Spring Break
Red Cross holds two-day blood drive
Kelli Downey
Issue date: 9/27/06 Section: News
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"The more blood, the better," said Sara O'Brien, the communications and volunteer services manager at American Red Cross. "Some day, any of us could need blood."
The co-ed community service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega is sponsoring the blood drive. The fraternity gets the word out by passing out fliers and setting up a table in front of the Student Union for about a week, said Christine Tu, co-vice president of service for the fraternity.
"Sometimes it was discouraging because people just walked past us," said Suzanne Le, a pledge for Alpha Phi Omega.
The fraternity has been sponsoring the blood drive for the past four to five years, Tu said. There are at least two drives a semester that Alpha Phi Omega helps out with.
O'Brien said donating blood is an easy process that is helpful to others.
"It is pretty easy," O'Brien said. "You can possibly save three lives by spending an hour with us."
People with uncommon blood types, such as type O, are encouraged to donate.
"The fact that I can help people, and it said on the flier that O's were needed," said Jamie Murakami, a sophomore majoring in nutrition. "Since I am an O, I am more than welcomed to donate to people who need it."
There were several students, including Le, who were not nervous about donating blood because they had donated before.
"I've been donating blood since high school," said Alex Hashimoto, a junior majoring in mechanical engineering.
College students are a very significant part of the donor population, O'Brien said. College students are ideal blood donors because their schedules are more flexible compared with those of working people. Out of 21 colleges, SJSU comes in second in terms of the amount of pints collected yearly, O'Brien said.
"San Jose State collects maybe 400 pints of blood approximately each year," O'Brien said.
O'Brien had advice for those who fear needles.
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