NEWARK, Del. – The Blood Bank of Delmarva’s return to the University of Delaware on Tuesday, September 21, 2021 was both thrilling and successful.
The UD drive drew 75 lifesaving donors, most of them students looking to do good for others.
UD senior nursing major Ben Korleski, president of UD Men in Nursing, worked with BBD Account Manager Desso Bryant to hold this blood drive, which had been a year in the making as they navigated the restrictions imposed upon campus by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Desso and Ben actually booked 86 total appointments before the drive began. No shows and deferrals brought that number down to 75. Many of the donors were nursing students like Korleski as well as students from other medical field and majors willing to roll up their sleeves and save lives.
“It has been a great experience for myself and the other Men in Nursing board members to organize this event and advertise as such,” Korleski said. “Our advisor has also helped in accessing email mailing lists to send our advertisements to larger audiences. We have had some difficulty utilizing certain resources and getting certain advertisement methods out to the public, but I feel it’s only due to this being our first time advertising on such a large scale. This will better prepare us for our next drives on October 26 and November 10!”
Their efforts paid off as it reached a number of students, including UD junior Brooke Ciampaglio. Ciampaglio, who plays lacrosse, said her friend, nursing major Nicole Feaster, told her about the blood drive.
“I started donating blood during COVID because they [the Blood Bank] needed it” Ciampaglio said. “I’m an EMT, so I see it in the field a lot the paramedics doing IVs [intravenous]. I want to be able to give more blood.”
UD sophomore nursing major Kristina Leone also gave whole blood on Tuesday in the Rodney Room.
“I usually donate because I know a lot of people need it,” Leone said. “I just want to help people. My sister works in the OR (Hospital Operating Room) and she’s always saying how much she needs blood, and I have a blood type that a lot of people can use.”
UD senior nursing major Alice Woods, similar to Korleski, recently had a patient who needed a couple of blood transfusions during clinicals at Wilmington Hospital.
“After being a part of [that] I decided that I wanted to finally do my part and donate blood. We’re in such a shortage,” Woods said. “Having the opportunity to donate and see the application of it is so cool.”
UD sophomore business administration and management major Chloe Wollman donated blood for the first time. She found out about the blood drive from an email sent by her sorority, Gamma Phi Beta.
“I had never done it, and I wanted to try something new,” Wollman said. “It’s not bad at all. I thought it was going to be worse.”
UD freshman international relations major Ava Rouse donated blood because, “I’m just trying to do good.”
Korleski took a moment to bask in the success of the blood drive in the Perkins Student Center.
“I wanted to take the opportunity to thank Desso and everyone at BBD for making this opportunity possible,” Korleski said. “I have been receiving lots of positive messages from our board saying they ‘enjoy being able to give back to the hospitals in the form of blood products.’”
