New NMDP Club emerges
Students are now able to get involved with bone marrow donation with new student-run organization.
A new student organization at the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University is working to give patients battling blood cancers a second chance at life by connecting students with opportunities to become stem cell donors.
The CSB+SJU chapter of the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), founded by CSB sophomore Eliana Case, aims to raise awareness about stem cell donation, recruit students to join the national donor registry and support patients and families navigating cancer treatment. NMDP is a nonprofit organization that facilitates stem cell transplants, supports patients and donors, conducts research and maintains the world’s largest bone marrow and stem cell donor registry.
The student-run chapter partners with the organization to host recruitment events, fundraisers and advocacy initiatives on campus.
For Case, bringing the organization to campus is about more than starting another student club. It is a mission rooted in her own family’s experience with cancer.
Case’s father, Cullen Case Jr., worked for NMDP for more than 20 years. In spring of 2025, he was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia and underwent multiple rounds of chemotherapy before receiving stem cell transplant coordinated through NMDP.
“Seeing the ins and outs of this process and the impact that it had on my family on a personal level truly inspired me to try and make a difference and help people,” Case said.
After learning more about the organization’s student chapters, Case reached out to her father’s colleagues to explore opportunities to bring one to CSB+SJU. However, her family’s experience with the disease became even more personal when her father’s cancer returned over the summer; a battle he later lost.
“Knowing the pain this has caused me and my family has truly encouraged me more to keep working with NMDP to try and make a difference, get more people donors and spread the word so less families have to go through this loss,” Case said.
The chapter’s mission is to help ensure that more patients have access to potentially lifesaving donors. Case said college students are particularly valuable to the registry because younger donors are generally healthier and can provide better outcomes for patients following transplantation.
Beyond the potential to save lives, the organization also gives students an opportunity to engage with a nationwide nonprofit movement, develop professional skills and participate directly in patient advocacy. The chapter recently held its first campus event on Tuesday, Oct. 27, where students made cards for Karter, a young boy battling an aggressive form of blood cancer. The event also provided students with an opportunity to join the NMDP donor registry. According to Case, the event resulted in several cards being made and five students joining the registry. The chapter hopes to build on that initial participation and increase student involvement throughout the academic year.
“We would love to see the engagement on campus grow and see more students at our events to help support these patients,” Case said.
The organization will host its next event, “Now Making Dreams Possible in Collegeville,” on Wednesday, Nov. 11, at 7 p.m. in Upper Gorecki 204A. The event will feature NMDP staff and a stem cell donor who will share their experiences. Students will also have opportunities to make cards for patients and join the donor registry.
Students interested in getting involved can follow the chapter on Instagram at @nmdp.csbsju for information about upcoming events. Those interested in becoming more involved can also contact the chapter to complete an official membership form through NMDP.
For Case, the goal of the organization is ultimately simple: to help make a difference in the lives of patients and their families.
“If starting this club saves even just one life, that is enough to me,” Case said.
