Men's and Women's Basketball to Host Bone Marrow Drive
4/20/2015 6:27:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The College of Charleston men's and women's basketball programs are coming together for a good cause on Tuesday as the team's will host a bone marrow drive from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on campus at the Stern Center.
The drive is being organized by CofC senior women's basketball player Mikaela Hopkins (in conjunction with the cancer fighting non-profit Be The Match) and is being held in honor of College of Charleston sophomore Michael Grabara, a biology major who was diagnosed recently with Aplastic Anemia – a disease of the bone marrow which reduces red blood cell production.
For those suffering from afflictions like Aplastic Anemia, the most effective way to combat their ailments is having access to committed bone marrow donors, a cause that has become very dear to both Hopkins and the entire CofC Basketball family.
“I'm really excited to have the men's basketball team join us in our support of Be The Match on Tuesday,” said Hopkins. “This organization is incredibly important to me: My best friend's mother recently passed away from a disease that could have been fought had she had access to a committed bone marrow donor. We need to increase the amount of people available for bone marrow transplants going forward and I'm thrilled that our basketball programs are coming together in support of this cause.”
Indicative of the program's commitment to increasing the bone marrow registry, Hopkins – along with having been responsible for a previous bone marrow drive – also conducts women's basketball's annual Curing Kids Cancer night.
For more information, visit BeTheMatch.org. Prospective registrants must be between the ages of 18-44, in good overall health and willing to donate to any patient who is deemed a match.
You can also follow both CofC basketball programs on twitter @CofCBasketball and @CofCWBasketball for more information on future events.
