Alarming statistics have Bronx health officials working to increase donor pools among its minority population.

The Soundview Health Center is urging Latino and black Bronx residents to take part in its series of bone marrow donor drive. The first installment of the drive was Wednesday afternoon.

Drive organizer Harry Small says there are not many blacks or Latinos in Bone Marrow databases. According to Small, the chance of finding a donor recipient match in the Latino population is one in 20,000. The chances for black residents are even slimmer, according to Small.

Organizers are hoping for at least 100 possible donors to attend. Wednesday?s drive will be followed by three others, starting with the next event on July 11.

Residents who are unable to attend in person can register online for swab kits. Swab kits eliminate the need for blood samples so that data collections can be taken at home. Once the kits are sent in, the collections are entered into a database. Future testing occurs if a match is found.