Every three seconds, someone is in need of blood. The body of an average adult has between 10 and 12 pints of blood. One out of every 10 patients admitted to a hospital needs blood. About 60 percent of the national population can donate blood, yet only 5 percent actually does.
In light of these facts, provided by the American Red Cross, students and medical personnel are banding together on the University of Wisconsin campus to help tackle the ever-increasing need for blood donations.
With a motto of “Give Life, Give Love, Give Blood,” the newly formed student group Bucky’s Record Blood Drive has begun planning for what they hope will be the largest blood drive in UW history.
The intended date for the drive is April 2, 2003, and it aims to collect blood from 4,000 donors, with at least 3,500 successful units.
As UW sophomore Meg Bradshaw, who is serving as Bucky’s Record Blood Drive chair of site logistics and information technology, pointed out, this number would put UW at the forefront of blood-collecting numbers, both locally and nationally.
She said Missouri University annually hosts the largest nationwide blood drive and currently holds the Guinness World Record for collecting 3,155 donations, 2,200 of which were students, in a given day — April 7, 1999.
“It’s not every day that you get to break a world record. This is a fun, competitive way to do it, and will also allow us to better educate people on donating blood,” she said, adding that many people have misconceptions about the process of giving blood. “You can donate, go on with your life and save someone else’s life while doing it.”
Jo-Elle Teixeira, director of communications and marketing at the American Red Cross Badger-Hawkeye Blood Services Region, said the ideas for this endeavor came largely from students, and the UW-Madison campus is the first within the UW System to see the formation of this type of group.
“We’re absolutely thrilled students have taken this on and will teach us new ways to communicate with donors.”
She feels that such a move could not have come at a better time. As she noted, 5 percent of the population actively donates blood, a number largely made up of the baby boomers. As this generation continues to age, however, she feels that now is the necessary time for college students to take matters into their own hands.
“[Baby boomers are] going from being blood donors to being blood receivers. [Students] need to take an active role,” she said. “The best way to do this is through the students.”
In order to meet this goal, the group is contacting various campus organizations, such as the Greek system and the Wisconsin Alumni Student Board and asking for their help. In addition, a shuttle service may transport students from residence halls to the donation site at the Kohl Center.
“Our main priority right now is to get student organizations involved. There are so many organizations on campus that perform service acts, so this is a good opportunity to get this service in,” Bradshaw said. She added that starting to plan now is crucial to the organization of the event, a lack of which could result in “wasted” donations.
UW freshman Liz Mierendorf, student organization advisor for the group, is confident that with the help of student organizations, Bucky’s Record Blood Drive will indeed set a new mark in the record books. In addition, she feels that with a student body of 40,000, almost twice that of MU, the goal is a feasible one.
“If we do our job reaching everybody, we shouldn’t have a problem.”
Mierendorf added that although “this year is the kickoff year,” the group intends to continue the blood drives in the future. The group has even discussed creating a “competition” between surrounding states and within the Big Ten after this year.
Bradshaw, Teixeira and Mierendorf all noted that student participation is a key component to the success of Bucky’s Record Blood Drive.
