By Eleazar James
More than double the expected students turned out for the annual campus blood drive hosted by The American Red Cross.
The event had an unexpected turnout with donors signing up three weeks prior to the event. It is one of the many events that the senior members of SGA are responsible for organizing each year.
“I was surprised to see this many people sign up. This is a really cool opportunity to give back,” said Senior SGA member Laura Wade.
The goal was to have 26 donors. The total number ended up being 53 donors, 24 of which were first time donors. The event was originally scheduled to be from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., but in order to accommodate for the extra amount of donors the Red Cross started an hour early. Nearly 42 pints of blood were collected, which will save up to 118 lives.
“It has been a privilege to work for American Red Cross for 14 years after moving here from Ghana. It’s good to see students taking part,” said Annor Kwadwo, a phlebotomist at the event.
At the event there were several stations with several phlebotomists tending to the donors. Every station was occupied. In addition to students donating, there were many faculty donors too. Benson Hall Resident Director, Zach Church was one of them.
“I’ve been donating blood a few times a year since I was 17 years old,” said Church.
“This is one of my favorite drives to donate blood to because they use the blood to help children with leukemia or other sickness as opposed to just a blood transfusion,” he said. To be able to help somebody or save their life is kind of a no brainer.”
