Bone Marrow Drive at Lipgloss and Leadership Business Summit

PALMER— Be the Match will have a booth alongside other vendors during the annual Lipgloss and Leadership Business Summit at the Glenn Massay Theater this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visitors will have the chance to register their bone marrow in hopes to make a match and save a life.

“It’s an amazing feeling that you’ve helped somebody,” said volunteer, Sandra Hinton.

Kelly Marre will represent the national bone registry as a trained peer support volunteer. Marre has extensive experience with bone registry as a Leukemia survivor and frequent flier in the volunteering efforts in the community. This is her first time at the Lipgloss event.

She said she will be there to encourage the idea of giving and guide people through the process. Volunteers like Hinton, will assist Marre at the booth. Hinton is a long time donor and supporter of the cause. The combination of the donor and receiver’s perspectives should make for a well-rounded and honest view of the process, according to Marre.

“As many drives as I have done, I am still shocked by how many people say, ‘ooh, bone marrow, I heard that really hurts I don’t want to do that.’” Marre said. “It’s like, okay let’s back up and explain the process.”

There are certain misconceptions the volunteers will dispel during the event. For instance, many people think donating bone marrow will be an agonizing experience but according to Hinton, it’s very easy.

A few years ago, Hinton made a match with a patient and donated her marrow. She underwent surgery to extract marrow from her hips. According to Marre, this method makes for 20 percent of all extractions. Donating peripheral blood stem cells makes for the other 80 percent, she said.

“It’s not a big ordeal. It’s not painful and you can save some one’s life,” Hinton said.

The first step is a simple cheek swap. After that, the genetic information is sent to a databank looking for potential matches. Marre and Hinton are known to have swab kits on the go, stashing them in their cars. They move like sharks — always in motion, attending events like these all over the calendar.

“For me, it’s about educating people,” Hinton said.

A perk to donation bone marrow is the face it regenerates within 6 to 8 weeks.

“Whatever you give comes back to you,” Marre said.

The Lipgloss and Leadership Business Summit is returning to the Glenn Massay Theater this Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eight women from the community will get on stage and tell the story of how they took their dream of a business and shaped it into a reality. Local businesses and food trucks — nearly all run by women — will also be intermixed with the event for a vendor market and Food Truck Rally. founder, Tammy Gray said this will be a day celebrating and showcasing these women’s talent.

“We’ve figured out what our voice is,” Gray said.

Gray drew inspiration from TED Talks when she was coming up with the idea. She refers to this movement as “storytelling for businesses.”

“I think the people that are coming are dynamic forces,” Marre said.

She hopes the dynamic women- and men- get involved with their cause. The business summit is centered on women but men are also encouraged to come to swab their cheek and hear dynamic stories on stage.

“They won’t get flogged,” she joked.

Tickets are $20 and can be purchased online at: www.eventbrite.com/