NEWARK, Del. – The University of Delaware Fall Semester Blood Drive held Wednesday, October 2 at the Perkins Student Center was the epicenter of Blood Bank of Delmarva’s autumn collections with a steady stream of more than 100 students and university staff donating blood.
University of Delaware has completed a little more than one month of the fall semester and the students were ready to save lives as evidenced by the whopping 130 appointments filled, mostly by students, with a few UD staff sprinkled in the mix.
In all, there were an impressive 63 first-time donors, and a total of 112 red cell units were collected.
The huge draw was due in large part to the stellar efforts of blood drive coordinator Kyle Tubian, a University of Delaware, junior kinesiology and pre-med major and a member of Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) Fraternity, who organized this blood drive in partnership with BBD Account Manager Gia Rivera.
“I helped with last spring semester’s blood drive and I told Gia, please let me know when we’re doing it again. I want to be involved,” Tubian said. “I’m really happy because as someone who wants to go into the medical field, I know it’s important.”
Assisting Tubian were fellow AEPi fraternity member Hayden Banks and a squadron of volunteers from Sigma Alpha Sorority sisters, including Amanda Winton, Gabriella Rivera, and Sarah Brock, who covered the first volunteer shift at the University of Delaware Fall Semester Blood Drive.
Sigma Alpha is the professional agriculture sorority on the university campus.
“I always want to help people; that’s my first reason,” said Winton, a senior marine science major. “Two, I don’t know my blood type, so I wanted to know my blood type. And, three, it’s just good to get out and be able to hang out with my sisters and do something that’s good for the community.”
Banks, a junior kinesiology major, helped with the last blood drive held on the university campus, and he also donated blood later in the day.
“I just think it’s a great thing to do,” Banks said. “Doing stuff like this is important. In my eyes, when it comes to helping people, it’s one of the things anyone can do. It’s kind of great to build these connections with people.”
Leana Griffin, sophomore mechanical engineering major, donated for the first time, and finally overcame her anxiety with needles.
“When I was in high school, I had teachers who were really strong advocates for blood donations and they told stories about loved ones who needed lots of units of blood,” Griffin said. “It’s something that stuck with me, and it’s so easy to take a little bit of time out of your day. There are people who really need this, and it takes so little from me to help them.”
Eleni Christou, a freshman, helped ensure that nursing majors were represented.
“I’ve donated in the past, and it’s for a good cause,” Christou said. “It makes me feel better just knowing the blood is going for a greater use.”
