Scots donate blood for good cause

By: Amanda Bloomer
Contributing Writer

Walking around campus yesterday, you may have noticed a sign announcing the blood drive that was taking place in the lower level of Stockdale. The event was held between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m on Thursday, Feb. 8. It was conducted by the Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center (MVRBC) and hosted by Monmouth College’s Pi Beta Phi sorority. Once every school year, the Blood Center visits Monmouth College and sets up in the Stockdale Center.

A campus organization is generally recruited to host the event; this is not the first time that Pi Beta Phi has collaborated with the MVRBC. Katie Setchell, vice president of philanthropy for Pi Beta Phi, said it was the success of last year’s blood drive that encouraged her sorority to host the event again this year.

Members of Pi Phi were responsible for signing-up potential donors in advance of the blood drive, manning a registration table for its duration and providing snacks for the donors.

Deb Fritz, the nurse in charge of the event, works out of the Galesburg donation center. Fritz was quick to note that MVRBC is not the Red Cross. The Red Cross is responsible for a large, national base of blood drives and distribution, whereas MVRBC accommodates a smaller, more local need base. They are a regional organization serving communities in Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and Missouri. In fact, there are regional blood centers, like this, serving in every area of the United States, and it is only after local needs have been met that the blood from these centers will be sent to a national blood bank to be dispersed elsewhere in the country.

Fritz said her organization had aimed for thirty-five donors from Monmouth College. With an hour and half left in the drive, they had already passed the twenty donor mark, and Fritz had high hopes for reaching the thirty-five donor goal. However, even if they did fall short, three people would still benefit for every one unit of blood collected. She claimed that Monmouth College is a great place to hold a blood drive because of all of the “nice, young, healthy people.”

One of these individuals, Monmouth College sophomore Freddy Martinez, was very matter-of-fact when asked why he chose to donate blood. He said, “other people need my blood more than I do.”

If any student organization is interested in hosting a blood drive, contact Brenda Lehr at the Galesburg Donation Center, (309) 342-7646.