Bone marrow donor drive in full swing Published July 29, 2009 By Staff Sgt. Danielle Johnson 87th Air Base Wing public affairs JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- Joint Base personnel who have not yet registered with the Department of Defense Bone Marrow program still have multiple opportunities to register for the during a base-wide drive here through Aug. 7. The DoD program maintains a database of potential marrow donors and matches them with any one of more than 500 DoD personnel suffering from disorders that require transplants. Currently, there is typically just one match in every 300 people registered for the program, and only about 2 percent of registered donors will ever be contacted to donate. Registration for the program is free and requires only a simple cheek swab and consent form. Any DoD ID cardholders aged 18 to 60 can register, including retirees and dependents. The sample, or buccal swab, is then sent to the C.W. Bill Young/DoD Marrow Donor Program laboratory in Washington, D.C. The tissue-type (HLA-human leukocyte antigen) of the volunteer is registered with the National Marrow Donor Program without identifying demographics. If selected to donate, all expenses for the donation will be paid by the DoD Bone Marrow Program; this includes a three- to seven-day temporary duty assignment to the Washington D.C. area for the donation. If selected as a potential match with a marrow recipient, the donor will complete a more extensive health screening to ensure the procedure would be medically safe for both donor and recipient. Potential donors will also receive counseling to ensure they still desire to proceed with the donation. The donation is completely voluntary and the potential donor is not obligated to donate if selected as a match. According to the program web site - www.dodmarrow.org - marrow transplant therapy is used to treat as many as 70 different potentially fatal diseases that can be cured by replacement of diseased marrow from a healthy donor. Since the creation of the National Marrow Donor Program in 1986, more than six million Americans, including more than 400,000 service members, have registered as marrow donors. For more information about the donation process and the National Marrow Donor Program visit www.marrow.org; for information on the DoD Bone Marrow Donor Program, visit www.dodmarrow.org. For information on the joint base registration drive, contact Tech. Sgt. Charles McCollum, Joint Base MDL marrow registration coordinator and recent marrow donor, at (609) 754-8296. Anyone interested in registering can do so at the following locations: July 31 - BX/Commissary Aug. 1 - BX/Commissary Aug. 3 - 87th ABW Military Personnel Element