PITTSBURGH -- The Duquesne University football program hosted its 15th annual Bone Marrow Drive throughout campus on Wednesday, April 17 to benefit the NMDP Get in the Game program and the Andy Talley Bone Marrow Foundation. The Dukes helped secure more than 300 new members to the National Bone Marrow Registry.

"Once again, our Duquesne students and campus community demonstrated their commitment to helping others with their enthusiastic participation in our Bone Marrow Registration drive," said head coach Jerry Schmitt. "Our football team members were able to educate fellow classmates about the benefits of participation and collect over 300 new registrants. I thank Coach Luke Smith and the entire football staff for their efforts and guidance throughout the event."

Over 250 schools participate in the 'Get in the Game' program, which has collected 155,000 registrants and 1,000+ donors since 2008. Duquesne helped add more members to the Be The Match registry than any other program in the country in 2017 and '18, and has continued tremendous success throughout the 15-year history of the drive. The Dukes have also been honored at the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Convention by the Andy Talley Bone Marrow Foundation for adding the most donors to the registry.

Of the over 5,800 all-time registrations from the Duquesne drives, 24 have turned into donors. Former football student-athlete Ayden Garnes and former women's soccer student-athlete Bella DiFabbo are two of the most recent donors. Garnes found out over the holidays that he was a match for a 27-year-old woman, whose identity is still unknown at this time, and after a conversation with his family he elected to move forward as a donor traveling to Boston to complete the surgery on January 4, 2023.

Long-time partner Be The Match®, operated by the National Marrow Donor Program, has officially rebranded and is now NMDP. NMDP's mission remains the same, which is to connect patients with a matching donor for a life-saving blood stem cell transplant and save lives through cell therapy. Their vision is to create a world where every patient can receive their life-saving therapy and a second chance at life.

For more information on bone marrow donation and how you can still get involved visit BeTheMatch.org.