The Newtown High School Peer Leadership group is set to host a Bone Marrow Donor Registry Drive on Thursday, May 29, from 8 am until 2 pm, in the school’s auditorium, 12 Berkshire Road.

The event is open to the public.

The drive will be offered through the Be The Match Donor Registry. Be The Match is the largest registry in the world providing a means for thousands of patients with life-threatening diseases or leukemia to find a match.

According to BeTheMatch.org, 70 percent of patients in need of a bone marrow transplant do not have a matching family donor. Ten thousand patients every year rely on a cure through the donation of bone marrow for a transplant from someone outside of the family, and only five out of ten patients receive the transplant they need.

Participants at the event will fill out a registry form and have their cheeks swabbed.

For information about the high school’s bone marrow donor registry event email Marrow@ribc.org.