Be The Match registry draws wide support for Nash
Community support for Derrick Nash made the first Be The Match registry event held in his honor a success.
A Saginaw freshman on the Central Michigan University football team, Nash has been dealing with a relapse of his acute lymphoblastic leukemia for about two months and is in need of a bone marrow transplant.
"I was down at Central being on the football team and going to class," Nash said. "I'm not going to say I wasn't mad, but things happen for a reason."
Caitlin Regan, a marrow recruitment specialist for Michigan Blood, said the registry event held outside the Kelly/Shorts Stadium prior to Saturday's game ended with 30 new registered donors for Be The Match, which met her goal for the day.
"Everyone has been very aware of the situation," Regan said. "Everyone knew that Derrick was going to be honored today. The awareness has been through the roof."
Regan said a majority of those who joined the registry came from the CMU Athletics tent set up outside the stadium. Several new registered donors were also students, some of whom had questions about the process of donating, which Regan and her partner Katie McClain, a marrow recruitment specialist, were happy to answer.
"I made sure they were aware of what they were signing up for," Regan said. "I don't think that all of them signed up, and that's a win in our book because we don't want people signing up who aren't committed."
McClain said the registry events are helpful for those who registered with Be The Match in the past, but are are still curious about the process.
"We've had a couple people at the table say 'I joined a few years ago, am I still on it?'" She said. "It's great to know that it makes them think about it again."
Assistant Director of the Chippewa Athletic Fund Tara Bergeron was one of the 30 new people to register with Be The Match, and said she had heard of the organization before.
"To have it here on campus and be able to ask questions was nice," she said. "It's such a little thing I can do in my life to be able to give back and help someone who is obviously going through such a big thing."
Bergeron said being able to support and possibly help a CMU student is important to her as a CMU alum.
The next registry event will be held from 3-7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 19 at Ames United Methodist Church in Saginaw.
This will be followed by four registry tables on campus on Thursday, Nov. 20. Three tables will be set up in the Health Professions Building, the Charles V. Park Library and the East Campus Residence Halls from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., and one table will be hosted by the CMU Football Team from 4 - 8 p.m. outside the Student Activity Center.
Anyone ages 18 to 44 is eligible to register with Be The Match. There is no guarantee that the registry events on campus will produce a match for Derrick, but Regan said diversifying the registry is always helpful, and Nash is grateful for any community support.
“It just feels good that there's a lot of support," Nash said. "I don’t have to go through something like this by myself.”
