On Thursday, Nov. 14, Augustana College hosted its annual blood drive, exceeding its blood donor goal and collecting more donations than the college has since 2011. The drive was sponsored by ImpactLife and totaled over 60 blood donations.
This fall’s blood drive took place in the Gävle rooms and was coordinated by Augustana’s Greek Council. The college has been hosting annual blood drives since 1995 and has been a partner to ImpactLife for almost thirty years.
Junior Gigi Hopkins is vice president of sororities in the Greek Council and said their goal for the blood drive was to reach 44 donors. Last year, she said their goal was 41, and this year, the blood drive hosted 74 donors.
Greek Council had blood donor sign-up tables in the Brew the week before the drive, Hopkins said, encouraging students to pre-register for a time slot to donate.
“Even having 60 kids at a college donate makes such a difference for people,” Hopkins said. “It’s the number one thing we all need.”
In total, ImpactLife Account Manager Tori Tebbit said the drive collected 68 blood donations. Out of those, 59 were whole blood and eight were double-red donations.
Tebbitt said there are two types of blood donations: double-red and whole blood. From a whole blood donation, she said ImpactLife is able to collect three different blood products: red blood cells, plasma and platelets.
“One hour of your time for blood donation can make a really big impact,” Tebbitt said.
Each donation has the potential to save up to three lives, she said. However, according to ImpactLife’s website, less than 10% of the population gives blood.
ImpactLife’s Community Development Advocate Alex Burkamper said since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, there has been a drop in blood donation rates from the college to high school age range. Tebbitt said the average blood donor is age 50 or older.
“At some point, they’re going to ‘age out,’” Tebbitt said. “We really need this younger generation to answer that call for donation, to keep that blood supply healthy.”
Tebbitt said out of all the 74 student donors, 36 of them were “first-time donors through ImpactLife.”
ImpactLife is a part of the Blood Emergency Readiness Corps (BERC), which is a national organization for community blood centers to help each other when it’s needed. Following the hurricanes along the southeast coast, Burkamper said ImpactLife helped provide aid through BERC.
“The blood supply must always be maintained,” Burkamper said. “[The] blood needs to be there on the hospital shelves already ready to go.”
According to ImpactLife’s website, the organization supplies blood to over 120 hospitals in a four-state region, with many donations staying within the donor’s community.
“You’re giving back to your community, you are helping people and there’s a chance that you may help one of your friends,” Hopkins said.
To encourage donations, Hopkins said they offered Greek Life students one hour of service for donating. Senior Sean Halloran attended the drive last week and is a member of the fraternity Delta Omega Nu.
Halloran said his blood type is type O-, making him a universal donor. He said he donates blood often and encourages other students to as well, despite any fears regarding donation.
“It’s not as scary as one would think,” Halloran said. “They’re very helpful when it comes to distracting me when putting the needle in. I have a fear of needles, but they always distract me.”
Tebbitt said students who donated at the drive are eligible to donate again in the future through ImpactLife, but they must wait 56 days between each whole blood donation. She said more information regarding blood donations can be found on their website.
ImpactLife will return to Augustana again later this year for two more blood drives. The drives will take place on Feb. 27, hosted by the Student Government Association, and on April 24 by Greek Council.