Give blood, get ice cream
Country Fresh Farms in Grand Rapids donated more than 70 pints of ice cream for today’s Pint-for-Pint blood drive in the Carey Hall Lounge.
For every pint of blood donated from noon to 5:45 p.m., the company will donate a pint of ice cream.
“I’ve got a whole bunch of ice cream at the coolers in the Towers dining commons just waiting for everyone to donate blood,” said Dave Weston, Blood Services coordinator for Central Michigan University Red Cross.
The goal is set at 50 good units of blood, a task Weston said will not be hard to accomplish.
“The students of CMU in the last couple of years have really come forward and whenever we have a blood drive it’s always a good event,” he said.
Weston said only people who give a good unit — a full bag of blood — will receive a pint of ice cream.
“Sometimes people can’t fill a full bag but the blood is still used for training purposes,” he said.
Thirty-two blood drives have been scheduled for this year and Weston said they are doing better this year than last so far.
“I’m sure it will be a successful drive,” he said. “Everything we have done in the past year through now has been very successful because of the students themselves, the groups that sponsor the drives and the people who let us use the locations.”
In order to donate blood, students must be 17 years of age, weigh at least 110 pounds and be in good health.
The Federal Food and Drug Administration also requires that no one give blood if they have been tattooed in the last year.
“We also ask you eat a good meal an hour to an hour and a half before you donate,” Weston said. “Other then that I’ll take anyone else’s blood.”
Weston said the drive is sponsored by a number of different organizations on campus and the donated blood will be divided among 37 area hospitals.
