BY NICK McCOY
The Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity hosted a blood drive on Tuesday and will be available again today for anyone wishing to donate.
Tuesday’s drive saw a number of students, who had signed up via appointment prior to this event, being sat down by several doctors and medical staff, who would take their blood. Before they were sat down for the donation, the students had their blood pressure checked and had a general look at their health by staff.
Students donating blood is a crucial step toward helping those in need.
“We’re collecting all these (blood) units to help save people’s lives,” said Austin Carbajal, who was in charge of the blood drive.
With previous blood drives in mind, the fraternity has collected a large number of blood units. With the current drive, they are a few steps closer to getting people the help they need.
“Typically, we aim for 50-60 units of blood,” Carbajal said during the early hours of the drive. “We have gathered roughly 20 units as of now. It’s looking good, and we’ll pretty much make the numbers by the end.”
While giving blood does help a lot of people, it also can be a scary experience for some. The staff working this blood drive realize that.
“A lot of times, they’re a little nervous and shaky, especially the new donors,” Carbajal said. “We talk to them, calm them down and walk them through the whole process.”
While some students may be donating blood for the first time, others have been donating for a while.
“I’ve been donating blood since high school,” nursing student Addison Emmot said. “There is such a huge need for blood, especially after Covid. So it’s important just to help save people’s lives.”
Today’s Alpha Kappa Psi blood drive will take place from 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. in the Memorial Union Ballroom.