When life hands you lemons, you take a bite into them and sign up to donate bone marrow, or at least that is what attendees at the sMiles for Megan 5K will be asked to do next Saturday.

The Megan Kelley Smiles Foundation has teamed up with Be The Match, a non-profit organization that is dedicated to helping every patient get the life-saving transplant they need by registering potential donors.

“A Be The Match representative will be at the 5K signing people up to donate bone marrow,” Donna Kelley, mother of Megan, said. “They will swab the inside of your mouth and see if you are a match.”

Potential donors agree that they will donate to anyone they match, and that they will remain on the registry until age 61.

Kelley said that nothing will happen unless the person is a match, then the donation process will begin.

Since 1987, Be The Match has facilitated more than 85,000 transplants, with 6,100 in 2017 alone.

Be The Match has partnered with Lemons for Leukemia, a social media craze that started this year.

Chris Betancourt and his friend Dillon Hall started this social media campaign to raise awareness for bone marrow donations. It calls on participants to record themselves taking a bite out of a raw lemon and then post it online, challenging others to take part.

“I saw it on T.V. on the Today Show and saw that it was associated with Be The Match,” Kelley said. “We will have a drone on site taking aerial photos of everyone biting into the lemons.”

Kelley said that people do not have to participate in the 5K to sign up for Be The Match.

“We are doing this just as another way to raise awareness about donating bone marrow,” Kelley said. “This will be the first year we do this, so we are excited to see how it goes.”

The sMiles for Megan 5K is still accepting 5K registration forms, which are available at Southern Independent Bank, First South Farm Credit or online at active.comch

and register.chronotrack.com/r/37361.

The 5K will be held Sat., May 5, from 8 a.m., to noon.

The sMiles for Megan 5K is held each year in memory of Megan Kelley, who lost her battle with cancer in 2015. It was her vision to help others who are battling cancer. This annual event raises money for the Megan Kelley Smiles Foundation, which helps local patients ages 18-25 who have to travel for medical treatment. The foundation covers food, lodging and travel expenses.

 

The 5K will be held Sat., May 5, from 8 a.m., to noon.
The sMiles for Megan 5K is held each year in memory of Megan Kelley, who lost her battle with cancer in 2015. It was her vision to help others who are battling cancer. This annual event raises money for the Megan Kelley Smiles Foundation, which helps local patients ages 18-25 who have to travel for medical treatment. The foundation covers food, lodging and travel expenses.