Take a look at the smile on 17-year-old Taylor Matt and you wouldn't know she was battling leukemia. "A lacrosse player at heart, Taylor was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia 2 months ago. It's the second time in 5 years she's been in the hospital with cancer, and doctors already have her on chemo-therapy. Taylor says, "That isn't a cure like a transplant is, but it's the only thing they can do, hoping it won't come back."

Taylor needs a bone marrow transplant, but after searching through millions of potential donors, her family can't find a match. Taylor's parents believe it's because her father is Native American. Taylor's Mom, Debra, says a neighboring patient found a match almost instantly. "Hundreds for one child. Multiple opportunities. But for someone like us, we have zero opportunities. There's not enough ethnical mixes," says Debra.

Taylor is not alone in looking for a bone marrow match. According to the National Bone Marrow Registry, there are 7-million donors worldwide. Of those on the list, only 8% are African-American, and less than 1% are American Indian. Paula Miller works with the Bill Pomeroy foundation in North Syracuse, helping to add people to the bone marrow registry. Paula says, "Antigens are markers that are found on most cells and you're trying to match antigens to someone else."

With more than 10,000 diagnosed with leukemia each year, Paula says more minorities need step forward. "In many cases it is a life and death situation, and they will pass away," says Paula.

Even Taylor admits she wouldn't have known the need to register if she wasn't diagnosed. "Not that people don't care, it's that they're not informed," says Taylor. She plans to fix that as she waits for a match.

On Thursday, November 12th, the Sigma Gamma Rho sorority at Syracuse University will hold a Bone Marrow Donor Drive in the Student Center from 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM.  For more information, call 585-472-4715.