Blood drive going mobile

donation stickers

By Tatheana Finney/ Staff Reporter

Students had the opportunity to help save lives on Amarillo College’s Washington Street Campus with Coffee Memorial partnering up with AC to host a blood drive at least once every semester by the clock tower. Crucial to the medical field, blood donations are needed, and, in an effort to get more donations, the Coffee Memorial Corporation comes to campus with their mobile blood donation center.

At the blood drive held Sept. 10 and 11, the Coffee Memorial encouraged students to participate.

“The people at Coffee Memorial do a great job of providing incentives for the students as far as giveaways like Cynergy movie passes, Palace gift cards and other things,” Jenna Welch, the student life specialist, said.

According to the Community Blood Center website, in America alone, 4.5 million people need blood transfusions every year; however, only 37 percent of people are eligible to donate and less than 10 percent donate consistently. 

Reasons for not donating range from concerns with cleanliness to fear of needles. “I feel that it’s unsafe,” Adriana Galindo, a business major, said. Galindo also said she would donate if she were convinced that it was a clean facility and safe to donate. 

Another issue for students is eligibility to donate. “I tried to once, but I was underweight,” Jackey Rodriguez, a graphic design major, said. “They didn’t let me and ever since then I just never tried it again.”

Lack of time between classes presents an additional issue because the donation process can take up to an hour.

 “The biggest issue for students to be able to donate is time because they are going to and from class,” Welch said. She said they hope to find a way to address the time problem so more students will have the opportunity to save lives.

In addition to saving lives, there are cases where blood donations have helped find cures for disease. 

“There are a lot of cases where somebody does get injured and needs a blood transplant to keep functioning,” Anthony Cruz, an aerospace engineering major, said. “But also, there are some cases where there are special types of blood that can heal people with certain diseases like the golden arm case in Australia,” he said.

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