CMU battles WMU in blood drive competition
Melissa Bloem/Staff Photographer
Roscomon sophomore Claney Carter, bottom, chats with Becky Raby, a nurse from the Central Michigan chapter of the American Red Cross, while she donates blood Monday afternoon in the Emmons lobby.
Blood will be drawn between Central Michigan University and rival Western Michigan University as both schools compete to see who can save more lives.
The CMU vs. WMU American Red Cross Blood Drive Challenge kicked off Monday and will continue through Thursday. Next week, it will resume April 2 through April 4. Each drive runs from noon until 6 p.m. in different locations around campus.
Sophomore Jessica Spencer said this is her first time working with the Red Cross during the CMU vs. WMU challenge. The Vassar native said because it’s friendly competition, she hopes more students will work together and donate.
“It brings schools together to try to beat their sister school,” Spencer said. “It brings good school spirit.”
In an email, Red Cross Donor Recruitment Representative Lindsey Scheible said Red Cross is looking to "... collect 300 units (units are donors), which will help save the lives of 900 people because one donation can help save three lives."
CMU students seem to be rallying in support of the Red Cross and for some friendly competition with WMU.
“I think our expectation is just to beat WMU,” Spencer said. “Just as many people (donating) as possible would be awesome.”
Students who donate might not only have the potential of saving a life, but they can be entered in a raffle to win a semester full of free books and other great prizes.
Grass Lake sophomore Shannon Lester said this is her 10th time donating, and the needles no longer faze her.
“It doesn’t bother me. I find it interesting to see how it works and stuff,” Lester said.
Kentucky freshman Anna Bruce donated blood for the first time Monday.
“I wanted to give blood today because I know it’s a good thing to do, because people always need more blood,” Bruce said. “I’m hoping to go into the medical field, so I might as well go and test it out.”
Bruce said she’s never been afraid of shots, but she is afraid of how it feels to actually draw the blood.
“I’ve been texting my friends all morning saying, ‘I’m so nervous,’ because, I guess in my family, people pass out all the time when they give blood, so I’m hoping to overcome this,” Bruce said.
Lester said her advice for students who want to donate but find themselves afraid of needles is to understand the needles are not that big of a deal, and the benefits of overcoming the fear are great.
“I’ve never had any complications with it, and, in the end, it’s a good thing for yourself as well as society,” Lester said.
Livonia freshman Chase Zellner chose to wait to donate blood for this event to help support CMU during the competition against Western.
“I just feel like it’s something else I can do to help other people that need blood,” Zellner said. “I don’t even have a special blood type or anything. It’s actually the most common one, but they still need it.”
