In response to a request by the Vietor family of Dell Rapids, the Avera Dells Area Hospital and Clinic, along with community volunteers, hosted a “Be the Match Registry” drive last week, with a Friday afternoon session at the clinic and additional hours during the night’s basketball games at the high school.

Dells native Grant Vietor, who was diagnosed with a severe blood cancer, has utilized the drive in searching for a marrow donor. His family, along with his niece, Dells Public student Maddie Vietor, and mother Karen, helped make the event last week possible.

The clinic portion of the Feb. 3 drive received six registrants within the first half-hour, according to nurse Stacy Tisher, who was assisting with the cheek swabs at Avera.

“Some people came with no connection (to the affected families), just saw the signs and wanted to help,” she said.

Twenty-seven individuals donated their time and information to the registry in the 3-5 p.m. time at the clinic, and the extended hours before and during the basketball doubleheader that night kept a steady flow of registrants.

Once the Vietors looked into a possible registry drive, Tisher said that the ball got rolling quickly, as the hospital and clinic were eager to help.

“It started out with a phone call to Avera Transplant (Institute),” she said. “They’re the engine that said we could.”

The nurse said that hospital administrator Lindsay Leischner played a big role in spearheading the Dells-based registry drive through Avera.

The process for registering includes a cheek swab, as well as paperwork to describe demographic information, as well as decipher whether or not you meet qualifications for registration.

“This is the time-consuming part,” Tisher said of the paperwork, which she described as taking a minimal amount of time as a whole.

Qualifications for donation include being between the ages of 18 and 60 and having no cancer history, with some exceptions.

Transplant data specialist Mary Anne Urban said that age constraints have to do with stem cell mobilization decreasing as years pass.

“That’s a hard thing to do – to turn people away,” she said.

The clinic is taking these donations for free, according to Urban.

“They are grateful for any donations that come from anywhere,” she said. “Even if you can’t be a donor, there are ways to contribute financially.”

Urban said she’s not surprised that a town like Dell Rapids has this type of response to an event like this.

“I think it’s typical for a small community to come together and aid someone in this way,” she said. “In the end it’s not just a local thing. We just appreciate the community supporting our patients in the area.”

For more information on the Be the Match Registry, visit marrow.org.