Children’s Medical Center Dallas may seem like a strangeplace to celebrate Valentine’s Day, but that’s exactlywhat the center is hoping students will do on Friday.

Patients and doctors from the center want people to make the13-minute drive from SMU to save a life by participating in the13th annual “Be a Matchmaker” bone marrow drive.

The drive hopes to recruit potential bone marrow donors for bothchildren and adults. Doctors say a finger prick is all it takes tocollect a sample.

“Even if people think about it as painful, it’s avery quick and easy way to help someone,” donor and sophomorestudent Luca Pataro said.

While the National Marrow Donor Program Registry contains morethan 4 million potential marrow donors, not everyone finds a match.According to the NMDP Registry 3,000 active searches are going onat all times.

Approximately 70 percent of patients in need of a transplant donot have a family member who matches. The next best match issomeone from the same racial or ethnic group.

The test is free and takes about 20 minutes. Since theinitiation of the Matchmaker drive in 1992, more than 2,200 peoplehave joined the program.

The drive will be held Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. atChildren’s Medical Center Dallas, located at 1935 Motor St.,at the corner of Harry Hines and Motor Street.

Pataro said he felt very proud of himself when he gaveblood.

“Every drop I was donating was helping someone. I would doit again if I could,” he said.