OLYMPIA, Wash.  –  While the Evergreen Geoduck men’s and women’s basketball teams battled against the Eastern Oregon Mountaineers inside the CRC Gymnasium,  a battle was being fought in the lobby and the Geoduck faithful stepped up in a big way, adding around 50 names to the national bone marrow registry.

In support of former Evergreen men’s basketball player Aaron Foy, Evergreen teamed up with the Puget Sound Blood Center to build the national registry.  Not only did Evergreen help to build the local and national registry, the volunteers were of diverse racial backgrounds, which is important given that the current registry is 73% Caucasian, leaving many minority patients with a tougher chance of finding a matching donor.

Between the women’s and men’s games, former Director of Recreation & Athletics Pete Steilberg took a few minutes to discuss the importance of the drive before introducing Tonya Knowles of the Puget Sound Blood Center.  Tonya took the chance to dispel some common myths regarding bone marrow donation.

Speaking last was the man of the evening as Aaron Foy took the microphone, thanking everyone for attending the games and supporting such an important cause.  He stressed that fans join the registry not just to help him but to help anyone who could use the marrow before proclaiming “I’m gonna beat this.”

While the Geoducks are proud of the boost they were able to give the registry, they know that the fight is far from over and that the registry will not be complete until everyone who ever needs marrow has a suitable match.  For more information on how you can get involved, visit http://www.psbc.org/programs/marrow.htm.