UW Oshkosh’s Be The Match club hosted its annual bone marrow registry drive last month where they helped grow the registry list by 151 people and fundraised $142 contributing to the goal of finding a cure and saving lives, UWO Be The Match President Sydney Langmann said.

“By adding so many individuals to the registry, we are very hopeful that there will be more matches for patients and that the money funded will be used to work toward a cure,” Langmann said.

Every year the Be The Match national organization holds an annual drive campaign. This year they partnered with DoSomething.org and Johnson & Johnson for the “Give A Spit About Cancer” campaign.

According to DoSomething.org public relations employee Ali Zafiris, the three organizations came together this year to work with college campuses to help them be a part of the “Give A Spit About Cancer” campaign, a campaign dedicated to raising awareness about the cause and encouraging people to join the registry to help save a life.

“The campaign ran from March 1 to April 30 and encouraged students to run their own drives to raise awareness about this issue and to get students to join the registry,” Zafiris said.

Langmann said the Be The Match club joined the national campaign, which then helped its club gain the funds it needed to run the campus drive.

According to Langmann, the national drive campaign came up with the “Give A Spit About Cancer” slogan in hopes people would do something and “give a sh*t about cancer.” She said spit was the key word in the campaign because those who sign up for the registry get their cheeks swabbed to see if they are a match.

Coming into her freshman year of college, Langmann said she was looking to be a part of an organization that was dedicated to making a difference.

“Be The Match turned out to be that organization,” Langmann said. “Now as president of Be The Match, I plan on continuing to make a difference and work toward raising awareness about bone marrow donations.”

DoSomething.org’s Campaign Manager Adam Garner said this campaign is crucial because 70 percent of people have to look outside of their family for a bone marrow transplant.

“So that means their only chance to have this life-saving procedure is if they find a match on the bone marrow registry,” Garner said. “This is literally about saving lives.”

Langmann said Be The Match is an important organization because it works to bring the campus and community together in an effort to save lives.

“Seeing how even one life can be changed for the better by a bone marrow donation makes me proud to be part of an organization that has such a significant impact,” Langmann said.

According to Langmann, the most requested bone marrow donors fall between the ages of 18 and 44 because younger donors help to ensure the best outcome for a patient. She said having the drive on campus was important because most college students fall into this age category and have the potential to make a huge difference in someone’s life.

“Not only will a bone marrow donation give a patient newfound hope, but it also has the ability to positively impact the community as well, a wonderful example being UWO’s football quarterback Brett Kasper and his donation to now 11-year-old Phoenix Bridegroom,” Langmann said.

Garner said Langmann’s efforts to the national campaign were not only integral to the success of “Give A Spit About Cancer,” but also to the goal of getting people to join the bone marrow registry.

While Garner said DoSomething.org, Be The Match and Johnson & Johnson have been working nonstop over the past two months to encourage people to register through Be The Match’s online portal, he credits college students all over the nation for a lot of the campaign’s success.

“People like Sydney and our other 50 college captains who are running in person bone marrow registration drives are doing so much of the heavy lifting and are part of the reason we’re poised to add thousands of people to the registry this spring,” Garner said.

Langmann said the Be The Match club on campus plans to continue hosting an annual registry drive and encourages all to volunteer for the event or sign-up for the registry.

If you are interested in receiving more information on joining the club or joining the bone marrow registry contact Be The Match at .