Ole Miss Greeks Will Be ‘Swabbing in the Grove’ Feb. 5-6 to Save Lives

Kappa Alpha and Be the Match Foundation looking for bone marrow donors in registry drive at Student Union Plaza

By Michael Harrelson, editor, HottyToddy.com

michaelharrelson@hottytoddy.com

Kappa Alpha Order at Ole Miss is partnering with the local ‘Be the Match Foundation’ to help find a bone marrow donor match for a Clarksdale man with acute myeloid leukemia.

Members of Kappa Alpha are taking part in a registry drive –– Greeks Swabbing in the Grove –– being held at the Student Union Plaza today and tomorrow from nine a.m. to five p.m. to help find a donor match for 43-year-old Andy Belvedresi and others with with life-threatening diseases such as leukemia, lymphoma, aplastic anemia and sickle cell anemia.

At present, there are no bone marrow matches for Belvedresi, described by his aunt as a devoted husband and father of three who coaches baseball and enjoys hunting with his sons. Although he is currently undergoing maintenance treatments for the disease –– a cancer that starts inside the bone marrow, the soft tissue inside bones that helps form blood cells –– Belvedresi will need a bone marrow transplant to survive.

Potential donors who are between the ages of 18 and 44 and are generally healthy can join the registry by answering some health questions and submitting to four swabs that will be taken from inside a perspective donor’s cheek. No needle sticks are involved in the registration process, event organizers say, and the entire process can be completed in only a few minutes.

According to the beamatchfoundation.org website post, “Each year, more than 10,000 patients are diagnosed with a life-threatening disease such as leukemia, lymphoma, aplastic anemia and sickle cell anemia. Their best or only hope for a cure is a marrow transplant, but they have no matching donor in their family. They rely on Be The Match ® to find someone willing to save their life.”