Mandi Schwartz.
Sam Rubin

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Mandi Schwartz Marrow Donor Registration Drive Apr. 15 Offers Chance to Save a Life

Mandi Schwartz Marrow Donor Registration Drive at Yale
Part of the NMDP Get in the GameSM Program and the Yale Day of Service

Join the NMDP RegistrySM:
  • In Person:
    • Wednesday, Apr. 15, 2026
    • 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
    • Beinecke Plaza, Yale University, New Haven, Conn. 
      • Also 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Steep Café (Kline Tower, 239 Prospect Street, Yale University, New Haven, Conn.)
    • To join the NMDP RegistrySM, must be ages 18 to 35 and willing to donate peripheral blood stem cells or marrow if you are a genetic match for a patient in need of a transplant
    • No advance registration required
    • 1-800-MARROW-2 (for questions related to joining the registry, donating, etc.)
  •  By Website:
  • By Text Message:
    • Text YaleSaves to 61474
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – In recognition of the impact her courageous battle with cancer has had on efforts to save lives through marrow donor registration drives, the Yale athletic department is once again holding a drive in memory of women's ice hockey player Mandi Schwartz '10 (Wilcox, Sask.) (1988-2011). This is Yale's 18th annual drive. The drive is part of the Yale Day of Service initiative.

The Mandi Schwartz Marrow Donor Registration Drive at Yale, which is part of the nationwide NMDP Get in the GameSM campaign, offers multiple ways for people to register for the chance to become a life-saving marrow donor. Donors who could help save lives are located through testing that consists of simple cheek swabs.
  • Join in person at Beinecke Plaza on Wednesday, Apr. 15, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  The drive is open to anyone aged 18-35. 
    • There will also be a site at Steep Café in Kline Tower from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
  • At any time, anyone who cannot attend the drive in person at Yale can go on-line to  my.nmdp.org/YaleSaves or text YaleSaves to 61474 to start the process of joining the NMDP RegistrySM.
Yale's drives are part of the NMDP Get in the GameSM program, which started at Villanova in 1992 under the guidance of head football coach Andy Talley. The program involves college athletic teams organizing drives on their campuses. Talley has since partnered with NMDPSM, formerly known as the National Marrow Donor Program and Be The Match, to take his efforts to the national level. Larry Ciotti, a long-time assistant football coach at Yale, is a friend of Talley's and brought the idea to Yale in 2008-09.

The NMDP Get in the GameSM program, including more than 250 partnered schools, has added more than 250,000 people to the NMDP RegistrySM. Those efforts have resulted in more than 1,900 life-saving transplants. 

The Yale athletic department has held drives each of the past 17 springs – ever since Mandi was first diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in December of 2008. Yale's record-setting drives have added nearly 9,000 potential donors to the NMDP RegistrySM, and at least 117 life-saving donor matches for patients in need have been located through the Bulldogs' efforts. 

Yale's drives were led by the football team and women's ice hockey team each of the first two years. In 2011, the field hockey team began assisting. In 2018 the men's soccer team joined these efforts. In 2022 the Yale volleyball team joined, and in 2023 the men's and women's swimming and diving teams joined. Last year the gymnastics team and the men's ice hockey team joined.

Members of these teams help spread the word about the need for donors to their classmates, friends and relatives. They also volunteer to help on Drive Day.

Mandi's story has been one of the catalysts behind the success of the Yale drives. In her battle with cancer, she required a blood stem cell transplant to give her a new immune system. With no genetically matching adult donor available, in September 2010 she had a transplant using two anonymously donated units of umbilical cord blood. A biopsy in December 2010 indicated that she had relapsed, and she passed away at home in Saskatchewan on Apr. 3, 2011 at the age of 23.

Mandi's plight shed further light on the needs of cancer patients everywhere, and the value of marrow donation. Every year, thousands of people of all ages are diagnosed with leukemia and other life-threatening diseases. Many of them will pass away unless they get a marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant from a matching donor. Seventy percent of these patients do not have a fully matched donor in their family and depend on the NMDP RegistrySM to find a genetic match to save their life.

To join the NMDP RegistrySM, an individual must:
  • Be between the ages of 18 and 35
  • Meet certain health guidelines 
  • Be willing to donate to any patient in need
The donor test consists of simple cheek swabs and will only take approximately 15 minutes.

Those who registered at previous drives are already in the NMDP RegistrySM, so there is no need for them to register again. Yale is seeking to add as many NEW potential donors as possible.
Those interested in helping with the Mandi Schwartz Marrow Donor Registration Drive at Yale can contact Larry Ciotti with the Yale football team at larry.ciotti@yale.edu. NMDP RegistrySM:
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