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Free Registration Encourages Marrow Donations

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@tampatrib.com

Published: November 8, 2008

Ever wondered if you could be a blood marrow donor?
Florida Blood Services is offering area residents a chance to find out with free enrollment in November. Anyone between ages 18 and 60 who donates whole blood, red cells, platelets or plasma is eligible to join the National Marrow Donor Program - a nationwide database that attempts to match an estimated 6,000 people a day to a volunteer donor.

An estimated 70 percent of people needing a marrow transplant cannot find a match within their own family. The registry is especially critical as seven in 10 people seeking a match never get a transplant. Minority groups are especially encouraged to join the database, as matches are tied to race.

Registration involves paperwork and having a technician swab inside a donor's mouth to collect DNA samples for tissue typing. The blood service foundation is covering the $52 registration fee. Registration will be taking place at all FBS donor centers. Those who donate at bloodmobiles will be given a voucher to use for enrollment at a donor center.

The offer is part of National Marrow Awareness Month. For more information, call 1-800-68-BLOOD (25663) or visit www.fbsblood.org.

A staff report

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