Campus blood drive saves lives; more volunteers needed

"Although 10 percent of most universities' population donate blood, only 11 students [from TAMIU] donated the last time we were here," said Lorie Garcia, Donor Recruiter Consultant for the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center (STBTC), a non-profit community blood center since 1971.After having low results, STBTC came to campus once more and set up in the Student Center Patio in late October.There was an improvement since students donated 28 units of blood. Still, Garcia left disappointed."We were originally projected at 35," said Garcia.This result does not even meet one percent of the student population, but since each unit saves three lives, it does save 84 lives."Most of the blood is used for accident victims, cancer, cardiac and organ transplant patients," said Garcia.Since STBTC serves 43 counties in South Texas, part of the 100 hospitals and clinics they serve are the Laredo Medical Center and Doctor's Hospital.According to the STBTC fact sheet, "every two seconds someone across America needs blood. It can take six units of blood to survive a heart injury, [but] a car crash victim may need 50 or more.""We need as much support as we can get, especially from a growing campus like TAMIU," said Garcia.One of the donors on campus was Staff Assistant for the Student Center, Esperanza Mejia."I do what I can to help," said Mejia.The process for donating is not long, and Garcia encourages students and the community to participate and make a difference."We urge all eligible donors [at least 17 years of age and 110 pounds] to come out and save this holiday season with their donation because every drop counts," said Garcia.