by Julia Sundstrom
It is officially the holiday season in our small, high desert town: parking meters are free, businesses are booming and people are in the holiday spirit. CMU may not have free parking during the holidays, but the staff, students and community members gathered,interested in giving the gift of lifesaving blood for the sake of the holiday spirit.
St. Mary’s blood-mobile was parked in the middle of the campus plaza. GEM’s club and St. Mary’s blood-mobile teamed up to help solve the local blood bank shortage.
“GEM’s club is graduate education and medical sciences club,” Chris Walker, CMU student and Club Advisory Board representative of GEM club, said. “It is a club that caters to mostly stem majors, but some liberal arts majors; who are bound for higher education such as grad school, medical school, pharmacy school, dental school – schools like those. We work to make sure that the students here are competitive in applying to those environments.”
Kaydie Murphy, Vice President of GEM’s club, and five of her friends attended the blood drive.
“I choose to donate blood because it’s the easiest way to save a life,” Murphy said. “One donation can save up to four lives. There is a desire and need for blood in the community. […] I just started donating in high school and I’ve been doing it since. It’s really easy. It takes about 20 minutes and it’s pretty painless. It’s like a little poke and that’s it. You can have fun with friends and race to see who fills the bag the fastest.”
According to the members at the St. Mary’s Regional Blood Center, “only five percent of Americans, who could give blood, give blood.” Blood is always needed. According to the American Red Cross, every two seconds someone in the United States needs blood. Blood donations are continuously needed. Blood expires five to six weeks after collection, causing a constant demand for donors.
“It’s the time of giving, come give blood – it’s because they need it and their banks are getting low. It’s so easy and only takes 15 minutes out of your day,” Murphy said.
Last week, Mavericks supported and gave back to the community by donating blood. The bloodmobile was filled with students willing to fill up a bag and save a life all-just for a quick sweet snack.
“It’s a good thing I like to do,” CMU student Brandon Lucas said. “Just to try and help out everyone when I can. Well, you get chips and crackers out of the thing that’s kind of nice for starters, but then you also help save a life. It’s a win win for everyone.”
“We’ve had tons of people even when I was in there,” Murphy said. “We have had a lot of people show up and said you need to come back in 15 minutes because all of our seats are full and our waiting area is full.”
“I am super happy that we have so many people in there,” Walker said. “The turnout is great. It’s really hard to miss a giant red, green, and blue bus there. It has great exposure and it’s nice to see the students participating so heavily. That is what I wanted to see most with participation. Luckily, we got it.”
St. Mary’s Regional Blood Center serves people in need all across the western region of Colorado and eastern Utah. At any moment an individual, like your neighbor, family member or even you, could need blood.
“Donating blood can be very crucial because you never know when you are going to be in an accident or if you need a blood transfusion,” Murphy said. “It’s extremely important to have that blood on hand right away and St. Mary’s is the only blood bank in Colorado. There are not a lot of options. If they run out, then you can’t get it from anywhere in Junction.”
Anyone can donate blood if they pass specific criteria and have a valid I.D. or driver’s license. Individuals can donate blood every 56 days. The frequency of blood donations is vital to your community and giving back, especially during this holiday season. December is the season of giving and receiving, but let’s extend “Giving Tuesday” by donating blood, you could potentially save up to four lives.
