NEWARK, Del. --  The University of Delaware football program will hold a National Bone Marrow Donor Registry drive in the multipurpose room of the UD Trabant Student Center on Wednesday from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m.

The entire Blue Hen football team will be volunteering, signing up participants and are encouraged to register themselves at Wednesday's drive. The campus event, titled "Get in the Game - Save a Life," was a big success during its inaugural year in 2009, as 150 people signed up to become future potential donors.

Testing and registration takes approximately 20 minutes per person.

The Delaware football program has joined Villanova University and the National Bone Marrow Program's "Be The Match" movement in their effort to recruit 5,000 new volunteer marrow donors to the Be The Match Registry.

For thousands of patients with life-threatening diseases, such as leukemia and lymphoma, a marrow transplant from an unrelated donor is their best or only hope for a cure. These patients depend on the Be The Match Registry to find a match - and a second chance on life.

Through the Get in the Game - Save a Life program, university faculty, staff and students as well as members of the community can be a part of the national movement. To join, people must be between the ages of 18-60, willing to donate to any patient need, and meet health guidelines. Registration is simple, and involves completing a health history form and giving a swab of cheek cells. Donors with diverse racial or ethnic backgrounds are especially critical.

Today, there is no required payment to join the Be The Match Registry. However, it costs the National Marrow Donor Program about $100 to add each new member to the registry. A gift to Be The Match Foundation helps cover this cost. The NMDP relies on generous contributions so more people can join the registry, giving more patients hope for a cure.

Villanova football head coach Andy Talley has dedicated more than 15 years to raising awareness about the need for marrow donors. He has recruited thousands of members to the registry by encouraging his football team and their friends to join - last year alone more than 8,000 people joined through a Get in the Game - Save a Life donor drive. Talley's aim is to increase the likelihood that all patients receive the life-saving transplant they need. In addition to the University of Delaware, almost 30 college football programs are participating in the program this year.

Be The Match is a movement that engages a growing community of people inspired to help patients who need a marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant. The NMDP, a leader in the field of marrow and cord blood transplantation, created Be The Match to provide opportunities for the public to become involved in saving the lives of people with leukemia, lymphoma and other life-threatening diseases.

Be The Match foundation supports the NMDP by raising funds to grow the Be The Match Registry, help patients with transplant costs, and advance medical research. Since operations began in 1987, the NMDP has provided more than 38,000 transplants to help give patients a second chance at life.

For additional information contact Juliette Williams of the National Morrow Donor Program at 1-800-MARROW2 or by email at jwillia2@nmdp.org, or visit the organization's website at http://BeTheMatch.org.