Football
April 19, 2024

Joe Flaherty ’14

Central joining nationwide program

PELLA— Partnering with the National Marrow Donor Program, the Central College football team is sponsoring an on-campus donor registry recruitment event on Tuesday, April 23.
           
As part of its Get in the Game project, representatives from the NMDP will be in the Maytag Center from 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. and then outside the Schipper Fitness in P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium from 2 – 4 p.m. The process starts with a simple cheek swab.
           
“Any student, campus or community member can come to voluntarily be swabbed and entered into a database to see if they are or could eventually be a match for individuals with a variety of different blood diseases,” coach Jeff McMartin said.
           
Previously called Be The Match, Get in the Game has happened on over 325 colleges and universities nationwide with 185,000 registrants. Over 1,000 registrants turned out to be life-saving donors.
           
For Coach McMartin, the program holds extra important for personal reasons.
           
“This is something that is personal to me having lost a brother to leukemia 13 years ago.” he said. “You’re always looking for ways to honor his legacy and looking for ways to make sense of that loss. This is something we can participate in a good way to help other families and other individuals that are dealing with illnesses that could use our help.”