The annual University of Memphis blood drive was held Monday in the Rose Theater.
Debra Brown, senior donor recruitment representative, helped organize the event. She said the blood drive is a big deal for the UofM and the community.
“The blood drive is a huge deal because it’s campus wide here at the University of Memphis,” Brown said. “You all are hosting it through Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity and you have a very large student population, so with that we are hoping to get hundreds of people to come out and donate blood to save lives. When you donate blood you can save up to three lives and it’s very important for our community to support our local blood supply.”
Brown said that attendance is the main struggle for the blood drive, especially during inclement weather.
“It has been a challenge particularly today with the weather being the way it was this morning,” Brown said. “Then, just for people to take out about 30 to 35 minutes of their time to spend time with us to donate blood, and that’s just a challenge in general.”
Brown said that the blood drive is an annual event held during the fall semester and planned months in advance.
“This is an annual event and the University usually does it in the fall semester,” Brown stated. “So we start out about 12 weeks in advance planning for it, securing the space, assuring that the host group is going to be involved as volunteers and getting their peers and friends to donate.”
Brown mentioned there are blood drives throughout the year in the city of Memphis.
“We have blood drives everyday, seven days a week, at churches, high schools and businesses so it’s always happening because there’s always a need for blood,” Brown said.
Jasmine Inzunza, a freshman at the UofM, said she has always seen the value of donating blood.
“I donated blood with this company last year for my high school and my teachers explained to me back then how much this blood helps other people and I decided I would do it to help other people,” Inzunza said. “I’ve always liked donating blood because I have O+ blood which is universal so it’s a good match with every person and my mom always told me that it’s better to share than keep it all for yourself.”
Melissa Morgan, Assistant to the Dean of Students, said this was her first time giving blood due to a medical condition.
“I am actually a type 2 diabetic and I was always told that I wasn’t able to donate blood, but I was talking to Debra and she told me I definitely could,” Morgan said. “I’ve had a lot of family members with a wide medical history and they’ve all been recipients of donated blood so I’d like to help out and do my part.”
Morgan said she plans to continue donating blood in the future to help her community.
“I hear about the blood shortages all the time so I hope anyone that is able to would step up and donate to help out those that need it,” Morgan said. “You never know if you’re going to find yourself in a position where you may need to have donated blood.”
UofM students sit in the waiting area for their turn to donate blood. Several students came despite the poor weather.
