Dozens of Bakersfield highway patrol officers swabbed their cheeks for the national bone marrow registry to find a match for a sick comrade.

The CHP set up the “Stand Up for Keith–Team Meter” drive, a statewide donation effort for the Santa Ana deputy who has cancer. Officers also took cheek swab kits to detentions deputies at the Central Receiving jail in downtown Bakersfield so they could take part.

Event organizer Joyce Valdez from Be the Match expects the turnout turnout in Bakersfield to be one of the highest in California.

Kelli Forsch