Students donate blood for national blood shortage

The Versiti Blood Center of Indiana hosted a campus-wide blood drive Tuesday in Carter Hall from 10 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. due to the national blood shortage. To encourage donors to donate blood, they were entered to win a selection of do-it-yourself prizes. All donors also received a $10 electronic gift card. 

Robin Arnett, Versiti team lead, expressed the importance of educating students on the process of donating blood.

“The sooner you get people educated about blood donation, hopefully in the future, it won’t be a constant struggle to have enough blood supply to meet the demand at hospitals,” Arnett said. 

Arnett said the blood shortage has impacted the work of the Versiti Blood Center. The organization has stepped up its recruitment practices and social media presence in response to the shortage. 

“It has changed some of the ways we try to recruit for blood drives,” Arnett said. “They’ve done more social media than they’ve ever done at any point, just trying to educate and make sure people know.”

Students shared their reasons for donating during a national blood shortage. 

Madison Hahn, sophomore biology major, said the national blood shortage was the reason she came out to donate. 

“I know that there’s a national blood shortage going on right now,” Hahn said. “As someone who’s wanting to go into the medical field, that is something that I feel really passionate about.”

Kennedy Wilzbacher, sophomore nursing major, said she donated blood to help other people and encouraged other students to donate blood. 

“It’s not that bad,” Wilzbacher said . “It’s only for a few seconds and it’s able to help others.”

Eli Christner, freshman nursing major, said he donated blood with Versiti Blood Center in the past and had a positive experience.

“I did a blood drive through Versiti last spring, and it was really good,” Christner said. “I found out that I have a universal blood type, so super important that I donate blood.”

Macie Bumgardner, junior nursing major, said blood donation is important to her and her family. 

“I’ve been giving blood for about three years now,” Bumgardner said. “Giving blood actually saved my dad’s life. It actually found his stage II colon cancer. Ever since that happened, it’s always been a goal of mine and my brothers to give blood as much as we possibly can.”

Arnett said students unable to donate can spread awareness of the shortage by starting conversations about blood donation and recruiting others to donate. 

Students who could not donate Tuesday can make an appointment with the Evansville Red Cross Blood and Platelet Donation Center.