OCTOBER 8, 2009 ISSUE
ASU Collects 1,003 Pints of Blood for Red Cross
American Red Cross volunteers prepare for the ASU Homecoming Blood Drive, which was held on Tuesday, September 28, at the Holmes Convocation Center. Photo submitted
For the second consecutive year, the ASU Homecoming Blood Drive exceeded its goal of collecting 1,000 pints of blood. On Tuesday, September 29, 1,003 pints of blood were collected in the Holmes Convocation Center for the American Red Cross during the drive that began at 8:00 a.m. and ran until 7:00 p.m.
The blood drive was a collaboration between the ACT (Appalachian and the Community Together) office, the homecoming committee and the Red Cross, and seven ASU undergraduate students were chosen in April to organize the drive, said Kate Johnson, ASU assistant director for community service.
About 200 Red Cross personnel from various parts of North Carolina came to Boone to help with the drive.
“It was an incredible team effort,” Johnson said. “Especially with collecting 1,003 pints, we truly feel like everyone who came made a difference. That’s something we want to impress upon people—every pint counts.”
The 2008 drive at ASU collected 1,060 pints and was the largest blood drive in the history of the state and the 10th largest in the nation, she said.
About 1,300 people came to donate blood at the drive in 2008, and about 1,200 people came to the drive this year, but some were turned away for travel and for other reasons, Johnson said.
Barring emergencies, the blood collected at the annual drive typically stays in North and South Carolina, Johnson said, adding that even such a large drive as this falls short of collecting the amount of blood required daily in the Carolinas region.
“Every day our region needs about 1,500 pints [of blood],” she said, adding that only five percent of eligible donors actually donate blood.
Upcoming Blood Drives
If you want to donate blood but missed the ASU Homecoming Blood Drive, don’t worry; several blood drives will take place around town in the month of October.
Blood drives will take place on Monday, October 12, at Deerfield United Methodist Church, on Friday October 23, at Walmart and on Friday, October 30, at Boone Mall. Each of those drives will take place from 1:30 to 6:00 p.m.
Additionally, the Watauga High School fall bloodmobile will take place from 7:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Monday, October 26.
Last year’s drive at the high school collected 400 pints—the largest collection for a high school in North Carolina for the past 25 years, said Watauga County Red Cross Executive Director Sonny Sweet, and a substantial amount considering that students must be 17, or 16 with parental consent, to donate.
“If it were not for the youth of the county, we would only get about 40 percent of our goal each year,” Sweet said. “ASU, Caldwell Community College and the high school are big players in the blood business of Watauga County,” Sweet said.
Donations by youth ages 16 to 23 account for almost 60 percent of the blood collected in the county, Sweet added.
“We can be grateful for their willingness to donate,” Sweet said.
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