UAM COT-McGehee Sponsors American Red Cross Blood Drive

Arts & Entertainment Editor

   MONTICELLO - Sixteen students and faculty members from the University of Arkansas at Monticello’s College of Technology at McGehee gave blood at the American Red Cross Blood Drive Thursday, Nov. 4.

   With the conference room at UAM-CTM full of equipment and supplies, the Red Cross staff members began working on the first donor at 10 a.m.

   The UAM-CTM campus sponsors two blood drives a year and aims at having 20 successful donors.

   While the numbers did meet the anticipated goal, it was not from lack of trying by campus members and students.

   American Red Cross Donor Recruitment Representative Brook Davis said 26 people came to donate but ten individuals did not meet the criteria.

   “Unfortunately it is the season for people being sick and low on iron but when you compare the size of this campus to other colleges of the same size, the number of donors is great and the McGehee campus is doing a great job,” Davis said.

   UAM-CTM’s Special Projects Coordinator Dorissa Kaufman said although the number of donors failed to double from previous blood drives as she had hoped, the event was successful.

   “Any amount of participants who succeed in donating means they gave someone else a chance they might not have had without the donor's blood,” Kaufman said.

Addressing Concerns and Importance

   As many questions and concerns arise when individuals choose to donate blood, the American Red Cross staff puts a lot of time and effort into stressing the importance to donors.

   American Red Cross Communications Manager Allen Gibson said those participants who donate aid individuals of all ages across the state of Arkansas.

   Although donors concern themselves with many questions of exactly where the donated blood goes, Gibson said the donations stay within Arkansas.

   While blood drives take place in designated communities, the blood collected distributes to any hospital in need across the state.

   Gibson gave the example of a McGehee child that may need blood and has to be transported to the Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock. Although the donor gave blood in McGehee, the area of exactly where the blood transports contains no limits.

   “Because we have always have a shortage, it takes a committed effort by all community members to have an adequate supply in the state Arkansas,” Gibson said.

   Gibson reminds donors who doubt the importance of donating blood that on any given day, the person needing blood could possibly be one of the donor’s family members.

   “We want donors to go away from the drive understanding that after the components of blood are separated, they have helped up to three people and that there is no substitute for blood, it is not man-made,” Gibson said.

   While the thought of medical problems and other conditions may deter some first-time donors from trying to give blood, their reservations could just be a misconception.

   First-time donors should expect the entire process to take less than an hour.

   As long as the individual proves they're 17 years old, weighs 110 pounds and shows a form of picture identification, the Red Cross staff guides the donor through the process.

   In the past, qualifications contained strict guidelines on donor eligibility. With recent changes made to the guidelines, Davis recommends those interested in donating visit www.redcrossblood.org.

   On average, Davis said the Red Cross distributes 180,000 blood products a year.

   “In order to meet that need, we need more donors and we are really fighting to keep up with the immediate needs of Arkansans,” Davis said.

   Vice Chancellor Bob Ware of UAM-CTC said hosting blood drives for the American Red Cross gives the students and faculty members a sense of giving back to the community and others around the state of Arkansas.

   “It’s a great feeling to be able to help others in need and know that someone from our campus is making a difference in another person’s life,” Ware said.

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