Also see: Slideshow: Bone Marrow drive at UMass

They came with red balloons, music, pins, t-shirts and lots of determination.

Stationed outside of every dining common on the University of Massachusetts campus, the UMass branch of DKMS Americas – a bone marrow donor center – spent Thursday and Friday recruiting passersby to join the bone marrow registry.

The group’s efforts seemed to pay off. At the end of the day Friday, 1,722 people registered to be placed on the “Be The Match Registry,” where they will be listed as donors until they reach the age of 61.

“UMass clearly has a student body that’s exuberant for life,” said Shira Simcha Nouriel, a UMass student who serves as the vice president for the University’s DKMS Americas branch.

Decked in red DKMS Americas t-shirts, volunteers at each of the dining commons promoted the same message: a five minute registration can make a difference in someone’s life.

“If you did nothing your entire life but give someone life, that is the noblest thing you could do,” said Michael Guglielmo, the New England ambassador for DKMS Americas.

Those interested in joining the registry were required to fill out a registration form and have the inside of each of their cheeks swabbed to collect cells for Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) tissue typing. HLA are proteins found on cells in the body and are used to determine bone marrow matches.

Tiny red puzzle piece pins, which represent the donor’s ability to be the missing “puzzle piece” for someone needing a transplant, were given out to each person who registered.

Justin Graci, a freshman from the UMass Marketing Club, became involved in bone marrow drives after his sister was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a cancer which interferes with the production of white blood cells.

His goal for the drive was to find a match for Oliver Williams, a less-than-two month old infant with Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome, a rare disease that results in a low platelet count.

“If we can’t find [Oliver] a match, my goal is we’ll find someone one,” he said. “It’s about saving lives.”

Marissa Foto, a UMass freshman, decided to register with the hope of making a difference in someone’s life.

“The more people that register, the more lives can be saved,” she said.

Phil Arbeiter, a sophomore from the Pike fraternity, volunteered at Berkshire dining commons to assist in the registration and promotion process for the event. His entire fraternity participated in the drive the previous year and registered all of its members. This year, he hoped to add many more people to the registry.

“Everyone that comes through who I swab, I just think, this could be the person to save someone’s life,” he said.

While many did take the time to register, Guglielmo, who accompanied the Pike students at Berkshire, was frustrated at the lack of open-mindedness from some students.

“They’re walking away and they could be the one person who could give someone a second chance at life,” he said. “It’s very sad.”

Volunteers outside Berkshire dining commons placed 455 people on the registry in two days – above Worcester at 281, but behind Franklin at 498 and Hampshire at 488. But Guglielmo hoped to have more men sign up to be donors, as he said that males between the ages of 18 and 25 are the ideal candidates. Currently, only 28 percent of people on the registry are males, he said.

“There are only two types of men who will register,” said Guglielmo. “They are the intelligent ones and those who find it their duty to save lives.”

The three types who will not donate, Guglielmo said, “Are apathetic, selfish or cowards…or a combination of the three.”

UMass freshman Nick Cline said he registered because he likes helping people.

“I joined the army to make the world a better place, so I can take the one in 20,000 chance to save someone,” he said. “I would want someone to do the same for me.”

Jessica Sacco can be reached at [email protected].