Host a Drive

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Host a Drive

Hosting a drive at your workplace, social gathering, or place of worship is the single most effective way to increase registry enrollment.

If you feel convicted about the need for bone marrow donors and want to share that conviction with others, a great way to do so is to host a drive. Drives can be accommodated for any size of group, from close friends/family to gatherings of over 100 people. As a volunteer for the National Marrow Donor Program, all of our drive supplies and promotional material comes directly from the NMDP.

Drives handled by Cheekswab are preferably located within the Northern VA/MD/Washington DC area and either in the evenings during weekdays or on the weekends. However, special distances/times can always be accommodated, so please make sure to contact us before assuming that we'd refuse a drive request. If we can't handle a drive for you we'll do our best to find someone else who can. The need for donors is simply too important to allow drives to slip through our fingers due to circumstance.

Sign me up for a drive!

What we can provide

  • All drive materials, including registration forms, swab kits, instructional material, etc.
  • A presentation introducing the bone marrow registry and the need for donors, which can vary in length depending on your needs. At a minimum we ask for at least 5 minutes. Longer times can also be accommodated (like for a church service), but please contact us to discuss the details of this type of request.
  • Volunteers, depending on the scale, distance and timing of a drive.

What you must provide

  • Drive details (who/what/when/where/why), including the demographics of the group in question, the purpose/inspiration for the drive, the location, and the desired date/time. This information allows us to prepare/obtain enough materials from the NMDP, in addition to appropriately cater the drive presentation to your group.
  • Reminders and notifications to drive attendees, to ensure a strong level of attendance and awareness for drive day.
  • A quiet area and designated time allotment for the drive process, which includes a walkthrough of the commitment, medical guidelines, completion of the registration form and swab kit. This also varies based on the scale of the drive.

In rare circumstances for very large drives we may request that you provide a few additional volunteers. The time commitment would be minimal and all instruction would be provided by us on drive day.