On a recent Friday, students spent their afternoon waiting for hours in the cold simply for the opportunity to donate blood to the American Red Cross.
Rachel Morris, an Ohio University freshman, was one of the many students who braved the weather Jan. 14.
(The Red Cross) sent out an e-mail for donations and said there was a shortage of O-negative blood
and that is my blood type Morris said about why she chose to donate.
Morris is a regular donor but said she thought the e-mail was a main reason for the high participation in the donation located by Stocker Center.
Morris and her friend, freshman Jessica Cuffman, waited in line for about four hours to donate blood.
Cuffman said that probably half of the people in line ended up leaving because it was just too cold.
Morris said that people were taking turns standing in line for each other so that they could all have a chance to warm up inside the building.
We were talking to some guys in front of us Cuffman said, and they brought us snacks when they were done.
Lori Gaitten, donor recruitment representative for the Red Cross said January is typically a tough month for blood donations. She said many blood drives are cancelled because of inclement weather, and this year has been no exception. Due to the cancellations, the extra units donated Jan. 14 were especially helpful.
Our goal for that drive was 30
and we collected 72 units
Gaitten said.
Student donations are particularly important in Athens County. Gaitten said that last year Athens County donated a total of 4,200 units of blood. Of those, 1,800 came from university blood drives.
We are already on target to surpass that 1
800
Gaitten said, adding their top priority is that they are able to collect enough to compensate for the cancelled blood drives.
The American Red Cross typically holds four to six blood drives each month at the university.
The upcoming drives are crucial in order to maintain the supply.
I would say people waited a very long time to donate
and that is impressive to me. We have never had that big of a turnout at that location
Gaitten said of the Jan. 14 blood drive.
Gaitten said it is important to try to make a commitment to come out to donate during the winter months when weather causes closings.
17
