Over 12,000 patients are diagnosed with a disease, including blood cancers, which can be treated with a bone marrow transplant each year in the United States. However, 70 percent of patients do not have a matching donor within their family, according to the National Marrow Donor Program.

Students of AMF at SMU is hosting a bone marrow registration drive on Friday, October 24.

The organization supports students who are in grief due to the death or illness of a loved one.

Psychology major Morgan Rund encouraged students to come to the event to help those in need.

“When a person needs a bone marrow transplant, they need a perfect match,” said Rund, a junior. “So the more people registered, the more likely someone can be found to save that person’s life.”

Minoritiy patients typically have the least chance of receiving a bone marrow match due to the low amount of donors. It is hard for ethnic minorities to find matches due to being genetically diverse, according to The National Marrow Donor Program.

Potential donors will be asked to fill out paperwork and will receive a cheek swab. A donor’s information is placed into the Be The Match© bone marrow registry.

The drive is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the flagpole.