Working on her Gold Award Project Morgan Marsh, a East Surry High School senior, is hosting a blood and bone marrow drive that will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 18, at the New Covenant Church, located at 501 Cedarbrook Road, Jones­ville.

The cost of signing up for the bone marrow registry is usually $52, but will be free of charge because of donations from The Mark White Foundation and others.

To sign up for the bone marrow registry, a potential donor must be between the ages 18 and 60, be in overall good health, be committed to donating, live in the United States or Puerto Rico, and not be in the U.S. military.

The process requires filling out medical documents and a mouth swab. Those two simple steps can make all the difference in someone’s life, and it’s at no financial cost to donors.

Last year, Marsh hosted a bone marrow drive along with a blood drive in honor of Ann Honeycutt. “It was very successful but as an involved person in the ‘Be the Match Foundation,’ I have realized that the bone marrow registry in desperate need of people of minority groups to sign up. Only 10 percent of people on the registry are African American as well as Hispanic, Asians represent 8 percent, Indians represent only 2 percent, and 68 percent of people on the bone marrow registry are Caucasian,” she said.

Marsh will be holding a blood drive from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 3, at the Pine Hill Friends Meeting, located at 3968 N.C. 268, Ararat.