Loyola Blakefield's Annual Blood Marrow Drive Embodies 'Men For Others' Motto

TOWSON, Md. (WJZ)—A cause is something that unites people. It's a goal, a focus, a pathway. Now, as Mike Schuh reports, the freshmen at Loyola Blakefield who gave that school a cause won't see how it turns out.

At Loyola Blakefield, it boils down to three words: men for others.

From the moment students arrive in middle school, those three words are drilled.

"We're men for others," a student said. "That's our motto."

"It's just about putting others' needs in front of our own," another student said.

So, when freshman Joe Gorman developed leukemia four years ago, those three words dictated what happened next.

"The idea is to add as many people to the national registry as we can," a student said.

They called it "Join for Joe"--900 classmates swabbed the inside of their cheeks and waited to see it they were a bone marrow match. None were.

But Gorman found a transplant outside of school. He fought, but the day after he turned 15, he died.

Since then, each spring, Gorman's friends continued to swab.

You have to be 18 to donate, which means only seniors like Mathew Franks are old enough.

"It's a tradition that we do. Even though it's optional, everyone still comes and does it," Franks said.

Because of what's happening here, 1,500 marrow donors have been added.

Gorman would have graduated this year.

Though 1,500 donors is a great testament, the question remains: would subsequent classes care?

Joe Gorman's little brother Nick knows who's taking over next year.

"Myself and John Bottsler down there," he said.

He's the next man up in a place of men for others.

Other area schools joined in on the "Join for Joe" campaign and bussed seniors to Loyola to take part.

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