UNIVERSITY PARK – Recently, the American Red Cross issued an emergency appeal for all eligible blood donors after fewer donors than expected gave blood during the month of June and the first week of July. Six blood drives are being planned in July at Penn State to help meet the need:
— 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, Kunkle Lounge, Hammond Building. It is sponsored by the College of Engineering and the Engineering Graduate Student Council. There will be a free mac and cheese coupon from The Diner for those who come to give.
— 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., July 23, HUB-Robeson Center, Heritage Hall. It is sponsored by Upward Bound and the Upward Bound Migrant Program
There will be a free mac and cheese coupon from The Diner for those who come to give plus pizza at the canteen.
— 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., July 24, HUB-Robeson Center, Heritage Hall. It is sponsored by the Penn State Student Red Cross Club. There will be a free mac and cheese coupon from The Diner for those who come to give plus Jersey Mike’s subs at the canteen.
— 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., July 25, HUB-Robeson Center, Heritage Hall. It is sponsored by the Penn State Student Red Cross Club. There will be a free mac and cheese coupon from The Diner for those who come to give plus pizza at the canteen.
— 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., July 29, 117 Mateer Building. It is sponsored by the Higher Education Student Association
If you come to give, you’ll get a free ticket to Kennywood Amusement Park.
— 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., July 30, 214 Business Building. It is ponsored by the Smeal College of Business. There will be pizza at the canteen.
Every day, the Red Cross must collect almost 17,000 pints of blood for patients at nearly 3,000 hospitals and transfusion centers across the country. Every two seconds, someone in the United States needs a blood transfusion. Donations were down about 10 percent in June, resulting in about 50,000 fewer donations than expected. June can be among the most challenging months of the year for blood donations as regular donors delay giving as they adjust to summer schedules. The Red Cross loses a huge number of donors in the summer when high school and college blood drives are not being held.
The drives on July 18 and July 23-25 are double red donation opportunities. Those with the blood type O positive, O negative, A negative or B negative, can make a double red cell donation, which is done with the help of an apheresis machine which collects the red cells but returns most of the plasma and platelets to the donor along with sterile saline. More information about double reds can be found at http://redcrossblood.org.
Appointments are recommended for all blood drives. Visit http://psuredcross.org and click on the blood drive tab or go to http://redcrossblood.org and use sponsor code: psu. Walk-ins will be taken as space is available.
