Rival schools compete in annual donation
The Carolina–Clemson Blood Drive will soon be in full swing for the 27th consecutive year. Beginning Monday, the drive encourages USC students, faculty and staff to “come out to give blood, save lives and beat Clemson.”
The drive, which will run through Friday in the Russell House Ballroom from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. as well as at various Bloodmobile locations throughout campus, is the largest collegiate blood drive in the nation and comes at a crucial time for the American Red Cross blood banks.
“We really encourage people to come out and give blood at this time of year because this is when the demand is the highest,” said fourth-year psychology student and Blood Drive Head KJ Byrd.
The blood drive is also the largest in South Carolina, with more than 4,000 pints of usable blood donated by USC and about 2,500 by Clemson in 2010’s drive.
Byrd and the rest of the blood drive team, consisting of 13 co-chairs of five committees from Fraternity and Sorority Life, have raised the bar for this year’s drive.
“Participation in the drive has gone up every year, so we are hoping for 4,500 pints of blood to be donated this year,” Byrd said.
As one pint of blood per person is the typical donation, this would call for 4,500 donors, but some donors will be able to donate more.
“Donors with certain, rarer blood types like O negative, B positive and AB positive and who fit certain height and weight restrictions are able and encouraged to donate using the Alyx machine, which takes two pints of blood in one sitting,” Byrd said.
With hopes for such high levels of participation, Byrd and her team have already started working on ways to minimize wait times and alleviate boredom for those waiting to donate. Donors are encouraged to check the team’s Twitter account, @USCBloodDrive11, for wait times before coming in.
“We’re going to have a lot of different games going on in line, so the wait will seem shorter,” Byrd said.
The consistent success of the Carolina–Clemson Blood Drive has led to its gaining major sponsorship this year, with The Retreat student living community and Earth Fare supermarket both donating more than $1,000 to the drive. In addition, Byrd said numerous other sponsors have been donating to the under $500 level. This revenue will go to fund promotional items, including the Carolina–Clemson Blood Drive T-shirts for all donors and additional “Beat Clemson” T-shirts for those who donate Tuesday night. Donors will also receive a free drink and chips with a sub purchase from Firehouse.
Students are looking forward to the drive and enthusiastic about the good it will do.
“Having this huge rivalry used to for charity is a really great thing,” said first-year sports management student Kelsey Pincket. “Giving blood is something everyone can do to really help out.”
Donations can be given Monday through Friday in the Russell House Ballroom from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and at Bloodmobile locations all over campus throughout the week. Locations and times can be found at www.sa.sc.edu/fsl/Carolina–Clemson-blood-drive.