The first blood drive of the school year was hosted in the Frey Conference Suite of the Kanter Student Center on Sept. 3 and 4.
The blood drive received over 60 donations, which is a high turn-out for the first blood drive of the semester.
“Usually, at the beginning of the semester, it is hard to get people to donate just because everyone is getting back into the swing of things, and the freshmen are just trying to figure out their classes,” president of Red Cross Club, Chloe Hibler said. “I was pleasantly surprised with how many people signed up to give and how many people did show up to give.”
With each of the donations, lives can be saved. There is a constant need for blood donations and volunteers.
“I think it is important for people to donate because we are always in urgent need for blood,” Hilber said. “We personally don’t know where it all goes to, but I do get reports after every blood drive to see how much we donated and how many lives we do save. They go to hospitals, emergency vehicles and all of that fun stuff.”
While blood donations provide life-saving medical aid, donation is not an option for everyone. This includes Hibler and Vice President of Red Cross Club, Jasmyne McDonald, who both cannot donate due to health conditions. Instead, they focus on making a difference by volunteering.
“There are people who choose not to donate because of medical reasons, religious reasons or they are simply scared of needles, which is perfectly okay,” Hibler said. “I unfortunately can’t because I have a health condition, but that is why I try to dedicate so much time towards volunteering and getting the drive set up, because I can still do something.”
For those unable to donate, there are other ways to help, like volunteering with the Red Cross Club or giving back to the community in other ways like clothing and food drives.
“In the circumstance that you can’t give blood, it is just another way you can help,” McDonald said. “Also volunteering in general is just a very fulfilling thing for the human spirit. I think that is a great experience that you can have on campus.”
