Comets Cure Cancer for Jason :: Mayville State University

Let's cure cancer together! Mayville State University is hosting a registry recruitment event to honor the life and legacy of Jason Perkins. Students, coaches, teams, faculty, and staff are inviting people to sign up for the registry and help cure cancer. In addition, Mayville State is challenging all North Dakota colleges to swab to cure cancer. The goal is to have as many 18 to 35-year-olds register as possible. Every person who signs up for the registry and goes on to donate will honor the life of Mayville State alumnus Jason Perkins.

Saving a life is possible!

Come swab your cheek. Join the bone marrow registry.

Are you open to the possibility of becoming a match and delivering a cure for blood cancers and diseases?

Mayville State University is partnering with NMDP (National Marrow Donor Program), formerly Be the Match, to host a campus donor drive Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. Get your cheek swabbed and get on the registry. Being on the registry doesn't guarantee you'll be matched. It may take months or years to find out, but once you do, you'll have the power to save a life.

9 a.m. to 3 p.m. - MSU Campus Center Foyer
5 to 7:30 p.m. -May-Port CG High School

For patients suffering from blood cancers and disorders like leukemia and sickle cell, a cure exists through a genetically matched blood stem cell transplant.

Every three minutes someone is diagnosed with a blood cancer.
70% of patients do not have a fully matched donor in their family. They depend on Be The Match to find an unrelated blood stem cell donor.
Every search through NMDP provides patients with access to more than 39 million potential donors in the world. However, thousands of patients are still searching for their ideal match.

See more about what is involved with signing up for the registry and participating in the Mayville State match event.

More information

For patients with deadly diseases like blood cancer and sickle cell, there is a cure - a blood stem cell transplant from a genetically matched donor.

YOU could save someone's life.

What is NMDP?

The NMDP team is composed of more than 50 employees and Network Partners across the United States in three regions across the U.S. They work with colleges, universities, corporations, community partners, patients and donors, and faith-based organizations to raise awareness about the need for growing and diversifying the Be The Match Registry by adding young and committed potential donors to the registry.

NMDP connects patients with life-threatening blood cancers and diseases like sickle cell with a matching donor for blood stem cell transplants.

Can't attend the event?

Scan the QR code to join the NMDP Registry today!

Volunteers needed to work the event

Click here to register as a volunteer.

Heroes for Jason

Perkins Family.jpg

Mayville State University is partnering with NMDP to host this registry recruitment event to honor the life and legacy of Jason Perkins, a Mayville State alumnus. As a member of the Comets Football chain-gang, he loved being close to the field. At athletic events in Mayville State’s Lewy Lee Fieldhouse, Jason and his family could typically be found in the top row of the bleachers. He truly loved Mayville State sports and believed that sports united humanity. He believed in the goodness of humanity.

Jason Perkins was also a member of the Mayville-Portland American Legion color guard group, who presents our nation’s colors at numerous community events.

Prior to coming to Mayville, Jason served in two branches of service, the Marine Corps and the Air Force. The Pennsylvania native grew to love North Dakota and the people during his time of military service in the state. When he left the military, he decided to go back to school to finish his college degree. He became a student at Mayville State University and graduated in 2017.

Jason was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) in 2019. He received treatment in Fargo and went into remission in August of that year. During a routine check in December of 2022, Jason’s blood test numbers started to come back as abnormal. After a lot of testing, he was found to have Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS). A bone marrow or stem cell transplant was his only possibility for a cure.

Jason did not have a fully matched donor in his family, so he relied on NMDP to help him find a match and potential donor. He received his matched stem cells on Oct. 31, 2023. If it were not for someone giving him the gift of their cells, he would not have had the opportunity for a cure.

Sadly, after a valiant fight, Jason lost his battle with cancer in December of 2023. He is survived by his wife, Hanah, and sons, Wyatt and Ethan, who live in Mayville, N.D.