Meghan Glynn
C.J. Wolfinbarger, a sophomore childhood education major, was a first time donor during the blood drive that took place from March 8th to 9th in Hillwood Commons. She explained that she had never donated before, but definitely would again adding that, “The worst part was probably the finger prick.”
However, not everyone gave the gift of life, and the staff on hand noticed it. Susan Callis, a donor specialist for the Long Island Blood Services Center, said that there was a noticeably smaller turnout by both students and staff. “The goal we had set was 130 pints and we had ultimately hoped for the two-day total to do 250 [pints],” adding that while she didn’t have any final totals available, it did not seem that they would be meeting those goals.
Callis commented on the lower numbers saying that she believed a large part of it probably had to do with the fact that the event was planned for right before spring break. “It’s the week before spring break, and a lot of people probably got away a little early,” Callis said.
According to the mayo clinic only 5 percent of eligible donors will donate in their lifetime and for every pint of blood donated as many as three lives can be saved.
While people like C.J. Wolfinbarger plan on donating blood again, a statistic from the American Red Cross states that 30 percent of people who have donated once will never donate again.
Previous drives on the C.W. Post campus, like the one hosted in January of this year, were more successful said Callis, who also commented that the Center is hoping to coordinate another blood drive before the semester is over.
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