By Sarah Bogues
If you took a peek into Alumni Hall last week, you might have seen CCSU students, faculty, staff and administration lying on medical tables. But don’t be alarmed – they weren’t sick.
The student center, a long-time sponsor of CCSU campus blood drives with the central Connecticut chapter of the American Red Cross, hosted its first of three blood drives of the school year, Nov.28 to Dec. 2.
With a goal to obtain 65 pints of blood each day during the four-day long blood drive, the American Red Cross volunteered many of its staff to help out with donations.
Many students, faculty and staff made their way to Alumni Hall to be among the few hundred people on the CCSU campus to lie on tables and pricked by needles over the course of the blood drive.
The first day of the blood drive welcomed 76 donors though the door, producing a total of 53 viable pints of blood, a little under the starting goal.
“Those donors were students, faculty and administrators, a great mix of the CCSU community,” blood drive coordinator Elizabeth Mongrello stated.
CCSU is no stranger to campus blood drives ever since the campus blood drive at CCSU began around 1947, organized and recruited by fraternity members of Alpha Phi Omega. The blood drive expanded under the leadership of Richard Judd, the director of the newly established student center, into its current position as a major service project of the student center.
CCSU has proved to be a major contributor of the American Red Cross with its Blood Drive’s record collection level over 1200 pints in the late 60’s and 70’s. Despite recent week-long drives bringing in a little over 500 pints of blood, there is still optimism that the number of donating pints of blood will increase.
“Educating the community on the safety of donating and emphasizing the need for community service will increase the number of pints we are able to provide for patients in need,” Associate Director of the Student Center Katherine Poirier said.
Although the Blood Drive is coordinated by the Student Center, success of the project relies heavily on involvement from student organizations, residence hall and commuter recruitment, and the campus’s community’s willingness to volunteer time and/or donate.