On Wednesday October 13 in the Student Center Social Room, the University of Bridgeport sponsored a blood drive and bone marrow registry. With 75 appointment donors and about 5 to 10 walk-ins, the Red Cross more than attained its goal of 40 productive units (1 pint) of blood. Aside from Red Cross representatives, several UB students assisted with the event. Among them are Avi Alketzer, Victor Bowman, and Geordaner Benhomme, as well as several members of the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc. to assist with sign ups prior to the event. This event is always an important part of UB’s involvement in the community is held every fall and spring. Thus, much help is needed from the student body. The Red Cross also mentioned of the importance due to UB’s very diverse population of ethnic groups because of the need for different blood types. Even though donors did come from off-campus, it is apparent that students provided a great percentage of units of blood collected.
There is great feedback from both students and Red Cross members on the importance of giving blood. As a UB student, Geordaner said, “I am making a difference and I want to be a part of it (the blood drive).” Others, like Red Cross representative, Mark Rebb, are involved because of family members who need the donations. As he said, “I wanted to provide a more direct benefit to people.”
This event also served the secondary purpose of registering people as possible bone marrow donors. This is a process where a drop of blood is taken from a person to find their blood type. This information is then stored in a national bone marrow registry for future reference on any potential donors of bone marrow.
If you are interested in helping to save up to three lives by giving blood, it may be easier than you think. Anyone who is at least 17 and weighs at least 110 lbs. is eligible. Just visit www.bloodct.org for info on upcoming blood drives. Just one measly hour of your time can save the life of someone close to death.