(news release) MARYVILLE, Mo. – A blood drive will be held this week at Northwest Missouri State University.
The drive will take place from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24, through Thursday, Oct. 26, in the Tower View Room, located on the third floor of the J.W. Jones Student Union.
All donors will receive a T-shirt, while supplies last, and Northwest will again compete with Missouri Western State University in a challenge to determine which institution can collect the most units of blood.
“This blood drive is different than many we have had in the past because, with recent disasters taking place, many Texas and Florida blood centers are out of service and will have low blood donations over the next several months,” said Madison Adler, the civic service chair for Northwest’s Student Senate and a senior criminology major from Smithville, Missouri, said. “This blood drive will help those who are trying to rebuild their community and recover their lives.”
Interested donors may register online by visiting www.savealifenow.org. There, use your mouse to hover over “DONATE” in the upper right corner of the screen and click “Donate Blood” in the drop-down menu. Then follow the instructions on your screen.
The Community Blood Center is the primary supplier of blood and blood components in the region, serving more than 65 local hospitals and medical centers. Student Senate annually sponsors fall, winter and spring blood drives in cooperation with the Community Blood Center to boost blood supplies in northwest Missouri.
Blood from volunteer donors assists cancer patients recovering from the rigors of chemotherapy, auto accident victims needing blood for emergency surgeries or mothers needing blood as the result of traumatic birth deliveries. It is estimated three lives are saved with every unit collected.
During the 2016-17 academic year, Northwest blood drives collected 751 units of blood, which was enough to impact more than 2,260 lives. That total included 392 units of blood collected during the Student Senate’s fall 2016 blood drive to win the competition with Missouri Western.
In September 2016, for the second consecutive year, the Community Blood Center recognized Northwest and its Student Senate as the top university among participating institutions in the area during the previous calendar year. Northwest donors provided 768 units of blood, more than 530 more than the second-place university, during the 2015 calendar year.