NMDP Get in the Game Program Surpasses 2,000 Blood Stem Cell Donors, Celebrates Endowment to Expand Lifesaving Impact
MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 02, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NMDP℠ today announced a major milestone for its Get in the Game℠ program: more than 2,000 registered donors recruited through the program have gone on to donate blood stem cells or other life-saving cell therapies to patients in need. This achievement comes as the Andy Talley Get in the Game Collegiate Recruitment Fund reached $1 million, creating long-term support for the program's growth and ensuring future generations of student athletes can continue helping patients searching for a donor.
NMDP Get in the Game is an initiative activated in partnership with hundreds of college and university athletic programs nationwide to educate student athletes about the need for blood stem cell donors and inspire them and their peers to join the NMDP Registry℠. The program has become one of NMDP's most successful grassroots recruitment efforts, engaging hundreds of thousands of students and helping expand access to lifesaving transplants for patients facing blood cancers and other blood disorders.
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"Behind every one of these 2,000 donors is a patient who received a second chance at life and a family that gained hope," said Julie Smolich, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Community Engagement, NMDP. "The impact of the NMDP Get in the Game program extends far beyond new registry members recruited. It demonstrates the collective power of student athletes and coaches to lead, serve and make a profound difference for patients and families around the world."
Among those donors is Morgan Johnson, an 18-year-old basketball player at Assumption University who joined the NMDP Registry through a Get in the Game drive hosted by her team in January 2026. Johnson registered because she believed in leading by example. Rather than just encouraging others to join, she wanted to take action herself.
Just months later, that decision took on new meaning when Johnson learned she was a match for a patient in need. After finding out the recipient was a woman around the same age as her own mother, she didn't hesitate to move forward.
Johnson donated peripheral blood stem cells this summer, marking the 2000th donor for NMDP Get in the Game and credits the support of her family, coaches and teammates for helping her through the process.
"There's nothing to lose, and everything to gain," Johnson said of becoming a donor. "It's really just taking time out of a few days of your life, and then at the end you get the gift of knowing you may have saved a life."
The program traces its roots to legendary coach and College Football Hall of Fame inductee Andy Talley, whose vision transformed the culture of donor recruitment within college athletics. By encouraging coaches and student athletes to use their platforms for a greater purpose, Talley worked alongside the NMDP team to establish a movement that has engaged more than 450 athletic teams nationwide and inspired more than 236,000 young adults to join the registry through this initiative since 2008.
To help ensure the program's future, NMDP and the Andy Talley Bone Marrow Foundation established the Andy Talley Get in the Game Collegiate Recruitment Fund, an endowment supporting donor recruitment, education and collegiate athletic partnerships. The fund recently reached $1 million, honoring Coach Talley's legacy while helping future generations of student athletes continue making a lifesaving impact. While the fund secures the financial future of Get in the Game, the NMDP Coaches Council helps secure its momentum. By strengthening relationships across the coaching community and inspiring new schools to get involved, council members are ensuring that Get in the Game continues to grow, recruit lifesaving donors, and impact patients for generations to come.
The program's impact resonates throughout collegiate athletic communities across the country. One example is University of Houston Football Coach Donn Landholm, a blood stem cell transplant recipient who will meet his NMDP donor Morgan Chalup in person for the first time this month. His experience underscores the importance of donor recruitment and has inspired him and the University of Houston football program under Head Coach Willie Fritz to champion the NMDP Registry, raising awareness among student athletes and fans about the urgent need for more lifesaving donors.
"NMDP is great for a lot of reasons and I have loved working with them for years not only here at Houston but at my previous schools as well," said Fritz. "This organization does amazing work in the community and the fact that they helped someone near and dear to my heart get healthy after battling cancer, makes it an absolute honor to be on the NMDP Coaches Council."
About NMDP
At NMDP, we believe each of us holds the key to curing blood cancers and disorders. As a global nonprofit leader in cell therapy, NMDP creates essential connections between researchers and supporters to inspire action and accelerate innovation to find life-saving cures. With the help of blood cell donors from the world's most diverse registry and our extensive network of transplant partners, physicians and caregivers, we're expanding access to treatment so that every patient can receive their life-saving cell therapy. NMDP. Find cures. Save lives. Learn more at nmdp.org.
Contact: Erica Sevilla, NMDP PR Manager 740-919-9761 esevilla@nmdp.org
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