SUNY’s Lowe Helps Others Give ‘Gift of Life’

By LIBBY CUDMORE • allotsego.com

ONEONTA – SUNY Oneonta junior Russell Lowe was used to seeing blood drives on campus, but as far as he can tell, his “Gift of Life” Bone Marrow registration is the first of it’s kind. “You see blood drives every week, but only two percent of people are registered to give bone marrow,” he said.

Lowe, a member of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity, learned about the Gift of Life Foundation while in Israel and set to bringing the drive to the Hunt Union Ballroom on campus.

Registration is simple; donors swab the insides of their cheek and mail the swabs to the foundation, who register each donor in their database. If a match is found, the donor is contacted for further testing and possible donation of marrow and stem cells.

Lowe and his volunteers registered 195 on Wednesday and were on track to reach their goal of 200 Thursday afternoon.