Local Women Organize Bone Marrow Donor Registry Drive

Maggie O'Rourke's battle with cancer goes back nearly 20 years. Now the 39-year-old has Leukemia and will need a bone marrow transplant.

O'Rourke's situation inspired Maureen McIntyre and Eileen Dalton of Pearl River to organize a Be the Match bone marrow donor registry drive for people ages 18 to 44 Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Rockland Irish-American Cultural Center at 284 Convent Road in Blauvelt. Potential donors are tested with four cheek swabs.  

There will be music, light refreshments and raffles for prizes including premium tickets to New York Yankees and New York Rangers games. Raffle tickets cost $25 and the money goes to Be The Match, which recruits potential donors and manages a registry with over 10.5 million marrow donors and 185,000 cord blood units. Be the Match also supports research and provides financial assistance for patients in need of bone marrow transplants. 

O'Rourke's Be the Match web page is here. 

The donor drive is just one of the events in and around Pearl River this weekend. 

St. Thomas Aquinas College Open Houses

• Where: St. Thomas Aquinas College at 125 Route 340 in Sparkill
• When: Saturday, Nov. 16 at 11 a.m. for undergraduate programs; 2 p.m. for graduate programs. 
• Cost: Free
• Description: High school and transfer students can tour the STAC campus and speak with current students during the undergraduate open house. For graduate school, speak with graduate coordinators about the MBA Program and the Grfaduate Education Programs. Register in advance online. Find out more about the undergraduate open house here and the graduate open house here.  

• Where: Pearl River Public Library Community Room
• When: Sunday, Nov. 17 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
• Cost: Free
• Description: This horn band will perform music from the 1920s through the 1940s in a free concert at Pearl River Library.