RAPID CITY, S.D. --- On Wednesday, March 29th as part of the Get in the Game, Save a Life program, the Hardrocker Athletic Department and members of faculty and the coaching staff have partnered with Be The Match for an event to raise awareness and adding individuals to the registry for bone marrow transplants to help individuals with leukemia and other illnesses in the Devereaux Library from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
 
Get In the Game, Save a Life is a recruitment program that utilizes the power of collegiate athletics to recruit marrow donors for the Be The Match Registry. Be The Match and the Andy Talley Bone Marrow Foundation partner with nearly 100 college and university football teams to help save lives through the program. The goal of the Get in the Game, Save a Life is to increase the odds of finding lifesaving donors for patients in need of a marrow transplant by registering young, committed donors to the registry.
 
Dr. Carter Kerk, Industrial Engineering professor, along with Rob Sales, Student Success Coordinator/Assistant Football Coach, and Bailey Johnson, Women's Basketball Student-Athlete/President of Alpha Pi Mu (Industrial Engineering Honor Society) have led the partnership between the two entities and organized the event.
 
"It's great to have Get In The Game on campus and for us here at South Dakota Mines to show the type of culture we have at the school," said Sales. "The school, especially the sports programs, operate with a family mentality and this event truly represents that for the Burnett's." Sales added, "we step up when help is needed and are there to support those individuals who are experiencing challenges in life, and I'm hopeful this event will bring attention to the organization and to the need for others to act in a selfless way by joining the registry."
 
The event honors former Hardrocker football player and equipment manager David Burnett (IE, '05), a transplant recipient, and his spouse, Cori Leis (IE, '05). Get in the Game has been supported by over 250 schools and has added more than 155,000 registrants to the Be The Match Registry and is responsible for over 950 blood stem cell transplants.
 
"After being diagnosed with leukemia in 2021, David found the perfect donor through the Get In The Game Registry and is doing much better today," said Dr. Kerk. Because of their success, they wanted to host an event at South Dakota Mines to help save more lives and on Wednesday, taking five minutes to get your cheek swabbed can do that!"
 
Be The Match will be adding individuals to the registry on Wednesday, March 29 from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. You can get involved by joining the registry and having your cheek swabbed. It is a simple process, and you will be on the registry until a match is found. The program focuses on individuals aged 18-25 but anyone under 41 can join the registry.

"I am so excited and blessed to be a part of this amazing event!" said Johnson! David and Cori are great people that have blessed me in multiple ways and so I want to give back to them in any way that I can and we would love to see our Rapid City community come and 'Save a Life' on Wednesday."
 
A link to the Facebook event is here.
 
About South Dakota Mines
The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology is a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and NCAA Division II offering 11 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic programs. The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference is a premier NCAA Division II conference with 15 members, as well as four associate members, located in the states of California, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Utah.