Pictured: Harvard students participating in a past bone marrow drive

This Friday, April 30, the Harvard football team will coordinate the Harvard Football Bone Marrow Drive to capitalize on the opportunity of a lifetime – the opportunity to save a life.

From 2-5 p.m. in Harvard’s Annenberg Dining Hall, the football team invites everyone to be tested to see if they are able to donate. There is no cost or obligation to be tested and anyone can make a difference in a minimal amount of time.

On any given day, more than 6,000 men, women and children are searching the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) Registry for a life-saving donor. The test is a simple cheek swab. No blood or needles are involved. It should take no more than 15 minutes for each person to register and be tested.

These patients have leukemia, lymphoma and other life-threatening diseases that can be treated by a bone marrow or cord blood transplant. For many of these patients, a transplant may be the best and only hope of a cure.

Remember that the next person in need of a transplant could be you or a member of your family or a friend. Please consider joining us for this worthy event.

For more information, please view the following video messages from NMDP advocates: and visit www.marrow.org or www.foxchasetemplebmt.org for additional information or further questions.

This year’s bone marrow drive is part of Harvard’s overall Crimson InThe Community campaign. The football student-athletes specifically perform at least one community service event per semester.