What Is A Drive-Up Bone Marrow Registry Drive?

Since COVID decided to stick around, we knew we would have to rethink our bone marrow drive process. We needed to create a way to keep everyone safe, to ensure we maintained our distance, and to remain contactless. After some team brainstorming we came up with the grand idea of Drive-Up Bone Marrow Registry Drives!

Drive-up Bone Marrow Registry Drives are similar to a fast food drive thru process. Just like your local Sonic or Chick-Fil-A, Bone Marrow Drives are just the same. Individuals stay in their cars in a line format and we assist you on your journey to becoming a hero!

The number one concept behind this type of drive was a way to stay contactless. Throughout the process there is absolutely NO TOUCHING. Hero volunteers wear gloves throughout the event, wear masks, maintain our distance, and you handle your very own envelope.

The process is very simple! You, or a potential donor, drives up and receives hand sanitizer first and a water bottle. Then you drive further along the path to meet up with a ‘Swabbing Volunteer’. You, or a potential donor would then grab your own swabbing envelope, fill out the registration form, and swab yourself with the help of an assistant.

After you have filled out the registration form and swabbed, everything goes back into the envelope, and you drive to the last stop where you drop off your completed envelope in a box. That’s it, you are now on your way to becoming a potential life saver!

Our very first drive-up drive took place on November 28th, 2020 with Kiddie Academy in honor of Kristy Cooper, a Harford County Resident who was recently diagnosed with Leukemia. We were able to safely swab a grand total of 79 people!

After our very successful drive, DKMS reached out to us and gave us the most surprising and exciting news ever. WE WERE THE FIRST IN THE ENTIRE WORLD TO HOST A DRIVE-UP BONE MARROW DRIVE! Thank you to all of our volunteers that helped make this possible. We couldn’t have done it without you!

We plan to continue hosting drive-up drives throughout the next months – you can also contact us to host your own! If you would like more information on our Drive-Up Drives or would like to host your own drive, please call us at 443-339-4375 or email me at charis.taylor@theregoesmyhero.org.