CSU leaves CU behind in donations
CSU is celebrating following their victory over CU in the Student Body Challenge last week.
The Student Body Challenge was a competition between the two schools aimed at collecting blood donations for Bonfils Blood Center.
Bonfils employees set up blood donation facilities in the UMC where they gave volunteers the opportunity to make donations from Sept. 8 through Sept. 12. They also set up a location at CSU on Aug. 29 where students could donate blood from 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.
Despite the short time frame CSU had to donate blood, the Rams pulled off a win over CU based on their high level of participation.
According to Bonfils spokeswoman Julie Scott, the victor was decided by considering the number of individuals who showed up to donate in relation to the total number of donations that could have been made.
The number of potential donations was based on the time frame Bonfils was present at both university campuses as well as the number of beds available to volunteers who wished to donate, Scott said. Six beds were available at CSU, meaning that from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., a total of 105 donors would have the opportunity make contributions. By the end of the day, however, 160 willing volunteers had shown up. This gave CSU a participation level of 152 percent.
In comparison, CU ended the week with a participation level of only 78 percent. There was a maximum number of 729 appointments available to those willing to give, but only 567 donors showed up. Though CU did make more donations than CSU overall, CU’s participation level was lower, giving CSU the victory in the contest.
Chris Stufft, a team leader from the Bonfils team, encourages community members to participate in blood drives.
“Selfless acts today reap rewards later on,” Stufft said.
Laura Miscoe, an 18-year-old freshman biology major, spent her day donating blood.
“I think donating blood is a good thing and it can save people’s lives,” Miscoe said.
Miscoe added that though some people may be freaked out by the idea of needles, she feels blood donation doesn’t really affect the participant very much.
Nate Stender, a 19-year-old sophomore history major, said he didn’t see why not to give blood.
“There’s no good reason not to give blood,” he said. “There’s plenty of excuses, but there are no good reason not to give blood.”
Blood donations can have a large impact on the community, as each unit donated is divided into two and sometimes three different life saving products. Donated blood can be used in aiding up to three different patients.
Stufft explained that all blood units given are separated into plasma and red blood cells. The blood can also be separated into platelets which are used, for example, to help cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. In order to meet community demands, more than 4,000 donors are needed every week, according to the Bonfils Web site.
Those who visit a Bonfils location can expect the donation process to take 45 minutes to an hour according to Community Donor Representative Katie Olson. Participants must fill out a donor questionnaire and go through a health screening, but the actual donation portion of the process itself only takes 10 minutes.
Bonfils employees will be back at CU Nov. 10 and 11.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Sara Morrey at Sara.morrey@colorado.edu.
