'Be The Match Day' asked for 430 people at the Gold Dome to join the registry
Lawmakers and staffers at the state Capitol spent "Be The Match Day" swabbing their cheeks to join the registry on March 4, 2021. (FOX 5)
ATLANTA - "Be The Match Day" was celebrated at Liberty Plaza at the Gold Dome on Thursday with several state lawmakers and staffers joining the national registry.
Those volunteers had swabs taken to see if they could donate life-saving blood stem cells and bone marrow. Among those tested were resolution sponsors Georgia State Senator Tonya Anderson and House Representative Gloria Frazier.
Anderson and Frazier hope that not only more people will join the registry, but that it also features a more diverse list of potential donors. Black patients only have a 23% chance of finding a matching donor, compared to a 77% chance for a White patient, according to the organization.
Lawmakers and staffers at the state Capitol spent "Be The Match Day" swabbing their cheeks to join the registry on March 4, 2021. (FOX 5)
Representatives with the Be The Match Registry said the odds of finding a lifesaving donor for someone with such blood diseases as leukemia are about one in 430. That is why the organization wanted to add another 430 people to the registry on Thursday. No word on if the organization met that goal.
More than 400 Georgians turned to the list last year to search for a matching donor and 118 patients successfully received a transplant.
Lawmakers and staffers at the state Capitol spent "Be The Match Day" swabbing their cheeks to join the registry on March 4, 2021. (FOX 5)
Those interesting in joining the donor list do not need to even leave their homes. They just need to text "GeorgiaSaves" to 61474 to be mailed a cheek swab kit to their home.
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