Athens Academy Sixth grader Kajal Patel needs a bone marrow transplant; the 12-year old suffers from an immune disorder that has caused health problems nearly all her life. To the hopeful rescue comes a whole community and Be the Match.

Setting up a 24 hour bone Marrow-Thon throughout Athens and Oconee, organizers and participants brought 3,000 donors to the various venues for registry, according to OnlineAthens.

Through social media campaigns, the media, and the student network of word-of-mouth, the former record of 2,400 bone marrow tests in 24 hours at the University of Ohio in 2009 was exceeded, making the Athens bone marrow registry the new Guinness Worlds Record holder.  

You can still make donations to Be A Hero for Kajal at Be the Match. And to keep up with the project, follow the journey on Facebook.