SPRINGFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) -- The Hampden District Attorney’s office will collect voluntary DNA samples this weekend at the World’s Largest Pancake Breakfast.

The office will set-up a tent in front of the MassMutual Center, asking those walking past for a cheek swab. The collection is completely voluntary.

The effort is part of an ongoing initiative from the D.A.’s office to use new technology to make progress in cold cases. The process is called forensic investigative genetic genealogy, or FIGG, and it creates a public DNA database used to match any unidentified DNA from crime scenes. As the database expands, the unknown DNA can be matched to a relative of the criminal, even without any match in CODIS, the FBI’s DNA databank.

The D.A.’s office has held DNA drives in the past and wants to ensure that the DNA is being used exclusively to build connections to potential felons. Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni said the office convicted the offender of a 20-year-old sexual assault case last year using FIGG. “So, this is a way for people, with knowledge of what happens, to get involved and potentially be helpful in solving a case,” he explained. “And most important, bringing justice to someone who has done something horrible, and bring justice and closure to families who have waited a long time for it.”

DNA is collected from a cheek swab and those who take part will receive a full ancestry family tree for free.

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