Driving for new student donors

By Nicole Tropf
The Collegian

The Fresno State Residence Dining Hall is inviting students, staff and faculty to save lives with a blood drive that kicks off a triple-day event, starting Tuesday, Feb. 6 from 4-8 p.m.

Renee Delport, Special Events and Project Coordinator at Fresno State said, “This is something new that we are doing to help out people who can’t donate during the normal hours of the regular blood drives.”

On Feb. 7-8 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. the drives will be held on the third floor of the University Student Union. Also, three blood mobiles will be located near the Peters Business Building, Kremen School of Education and Maple Mall.

The RDH has never held a blood drive but the location was carefully chosen to begin the events on Tuesday for a few reasons.

“We don’t currently have a drive location in that area of campus and are hoping to educate the 1,200 plus students that live in the residence halls about the need of blood,” Delport said. “We are hoping to drum up excitement and hopefully reach an audience of new donors.”

According to Lynn Stone, donor recruiter for the Central California Blood Center, 60 percent of the population is qualified to donate blood but less than 5 percent actually do.

“We need approximately 5,000-6,000 pints of blood each month. The goal for all three days is 800 pints, so 75-100 pints for the first day would be fantastic,” Stone said.

“We want to make donating easy and convenient for them, too hard for them to say, ‘No,’” Stone said.

Delport said, “We need students to not only donate, but help market and volunteer at the drive.”

According to the Blood Center, 75 percent of all Americans who reach 72 years of age will need blood donations in their lifetime and 97 percent will have a loved one or friend who will need lifesaving blood.

“No one really thinks about blood or where it comes from until them or someone they know needs it.

They just expect it to be at the hospital, no questions asked. That is what we are here for and what we hope Fresno State will help us achieve,” Stone said.

Fresno State student Lindsey Amaro said, “I’m not allowed to donate because I have such a low iron count. The drive is something I support whole-heartedly even though my body won’t allow it.”

For donors to be eligible they must be at least 17 years old, weigh a minimum of 110 pounds and be in good health. Iron count in blood is also a factor, but will be tested before donating in order to avoid temporarily lowering blood count donation to below normal levels.

All donors will receive a free pint of Baskin-Robbins ice cream as well as a variety of discounts from Valley businesses such as Gottschalks, Yosemite Fitness, Colorado Grill, Marie Callender’s and Forever Tans.

“You should eat at least one hour prior to donating and you should have a photo ID and will also be required to know your social security number,” Delport said.

Stone said, “It’s an easy process that takes about one hour of time to go through — everything from paperwork to eating your Twinkies and drinking water.”

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