BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College football team will host its 7th Annual Be The Match Bone Marrow Donor Registration Drive on Tuesday, April 19 from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. in Johnston Hall.

For the seventh straight year, the Moravian football squad has joined Villanova University Head Football Coach Andy Talley and Be The Match^® to help save lives by recruiting potential marrow donors. This year more than 30 football teams from colleges and universities across the nation are participating in the program to recruit 5,000 new registry members.

Every three minutes someone is diagnosed with a life-threatening blood cancer. More than 14,000 patients don't have a matching marrow donor within their family. They depend on Be The Match to help find someone to give them hope for a cure.

The Get in the Game. Save A Life. Program raises awareness of this need and invites students, faculty, staff and the community to join the Be The Match Registry. To sign up as a committed registry member, people need to meet age and health guidelines and be willing to donate to any patient in need. Registration involves completing a health history form and giving a swab of cheek cells. Those of diverse racial or ethnic heritage are especially needed. Donors and patients who share the same ancestry are mostly likely to match.

"We proudly continue our partnership this spring with the Be The Match Foundation," stated Head Football Coach Jeff Pukszyn. "We have registered nearly 1,300 people and we're looking forward to another large turnout. The Get in the Game, Save a Life program is a great opportunity to positively affect people's lives and make an impact that reaches far beyond the football field.

This is a ten-minute process that includes filling out a medical history form and a painless cotton swabbing of the cheek.  Moravian is looking for people from every background so more patients have a chance for a cure.

Since starting the drive in 2010, Moravian has registered 1,286 people for the program and have six known matches over the last six years.

For more information, contact assistant football coach Chris Leavenworth at 610-625-7955 or by email at leavenworthc@moravian.edu.