Around 460 units of blood were collected during the Red Cross sponsored Blood Donor Days in 2013. This year the Blood Donor Days, organized by Associated Students and sponsored by the American Red Cross, were held from March 11-12.
“We have gotten this award three times before this one,” said Darlene Jensen, director of Student Affairs. “It was my first time attending the recognition breakfast and I felt honored receiving it after all the hard work from the Associated Students.”
Jensen attended the American Red Cross Sponsor Recognition Breakfast where she received a platinum award on behalf of Fullerton College. This award is given to campuses that find different ways to encourage students to donate blood.
“I donate blood because I believe that what goes around comes around and that if i do a good deed like that than it will benefit me if I ever need blood,” said Kevin Dau, FC student. “Life is unpredictable and sometimes we don’t realize how important it is to donate and the difference it makes in someone’s life.”
“The goal for this year is to find more marketing strategies to encourage students to donate blood. It makes a big difference in the lives of those who need it,” Jensen said.
According to the American Red Cross, some 38 percent of Americans are eligible to donate blood. While only 3 percent actually do so even though many of us will need blood at some point in our lifetime,” said Sharon Pitt, chief executive officer of the American Red Cross Carolinas and South Carolina Blood Services Region.
“We always try to stay active in promoting the blood drive and the senators worked extra hard this year to sign people up. We started the signups over two weeks in advance and made sure to call all people signed up the day prior to them donating blood,” said A.S. Vice President Joshua Kleinbergs.
The reason behind calling people is because people tend to forget the dates and they also remind donors to eat something before getting to donate because it is a much safer process.
“I know the benefits of donating blood are worth the few seconds of pain when I get injected with a needle but when I try I get nervous and my pulse gets out of control so then I need to wait and by then I lose the guts I had in the first place to do it.” Said Stephanie Maldonado. Major Business.
According to the American Red Cross, someone in the U.S. needs blood every two seconds. More than four million American lives are saved each year by donating blood. Blood is always needed for cancer, blood diseases, burns and surgery patients.
A.S. always welcomes volunteers to help contact past donors and to help on out on the blood donor days. They also encourage those who are able to donate should think about donating.