The Red Cross held a blood drive on Thursday at the Campus Christian Center.  

With COVID-19 sending all colleges and universities virtual last year, it was difficult to hold a blood drive without many participants on campus. However, the campus  is now filled with students and faculty wearing masks to prevent the spread of the virus, and classrooms are full again.  

Blood Drives are typically held once to twice a month on campus, depending on the needs of the city or the Red Cross. The goal is to find a good age range of students and faculty to donate.  Not all students have the same blood type, and all variations are accepted to better meet the needs of the organization. 

“I’ve only donated blood like twice, but I saw it needed people to donate blood, so here I am,” said one Marshall student.  

“Hopefully, we will have more donations this year, and blood drives happen every day six days a week,” said one Red Cross worker. “Most donations come from an organized drive rather than an urgent drive, and churches are the most consistent.”  

Leah Hill, a junior nursing student, said they donated blood because of the need for a certain blood type. “I donated blood because I am O negative and it’s the rarest blood type and everyone needs it,” Hill said. “My brother needed blood a long time ago and no one in my family could donate because I wasn’t old enough, so I never wanted anyone to suffer through that ever again.” 

“I’ve donated five gallons of blood throughout my lifetime, Campus Christian Center Secretary Beth Ely, said. “I do it because it’s necessary for surgeries or people who need infusions and just try to be helpful when I can.”