Photo by: Anna Dreiling
Approximately 160 DU students came together last Wednesday and Thursday to donate blood to Bonfils Blood Center. By the end of the two days, students donated 122 units, equaling 500 mL of blood, which has the potential to save up to 366 Colorado lives.
The event was co-sponsored by three student organizations: Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society, Kappa Sigma Fraternity and SANTI, a global health organization. The donation process took anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour.
“As we continue to try to get our name out there, the blood drive provided us with a great opportunity to do so while also supporting our values of community service,” said Alpha Lambda Delta president Cheyenne Michaels. “It’s quite a challenge to get college students to pay for anything, let alone donate money, so the blood drive is an easy way for DU students to give back to the community in an effective and crucial way.”
Kappa Sigma Fraternity also co-sponsored the event and a number of members turned out to give blood.
“I’ve always meant to give more blood,” said Kappa Sigma member Stephan Steo. “My dad’s a doctor, and it just seemed like a great way to give back.”
The other co-sponsor was SANTI, and many of its members donated as well.
“We wanted to organize a blood drive as one of our initiatives this year, and so we helped set this up and helped sign people up,” said SANTI member Amanda Peskin.
Many of the students who donated blood were excited to do so.
“I give blood pretty much every time there’s a blood drive,” said sophomore Megan Schumacher. “I try to get out here whenever possible. They have my phone number and they just give me a call to tell me when there’s a blood drive and I set up an appointment.”
About 76 of the donors were entirely new to giving blood, and many of them said it was a surprisingly easy experience.
“With this company, it’s always been really pleasant to give blood,” Schumacher said. “I’ve fainted once, and it was because I didn’t have a good breakfast -and that was a couple years ago. It’s never a bad thing for me because I’m not afraid of needles.”
The donors said they hope their blood will eventually be used to help other Coloradans in their time of need.
“It’s just a really important thing to do,” Schumacher said. “I have a lot of doctor friends, and I’ve always been really active my whole life. I’ve spent a lot of time in the hospital, so I know that it’s a really important thing to have access to different types of blood.”
Peskin also understands the importance of donating blood.
“I’ve had surgery in the past, and I know I needed blood during my own surgery, so I think it’s really important for hospitals to have a supply of blood on hand for emergencies,” she said.
Steo said he hopes his blood ultimately helps someone.
“Really, if I can even just help one person, that’d be more than enough for me,” he said.
