Every two seconds, someone in America needs blood. According to the American Red Cross, that means more than 41,000 blood donations are needed every day .
In 1994, MSU and Pennsylvania State University began a friendly blood drive competition aiming to collect as many donations as possible .
Twenty years later, the competition continues. On Monday, MSU was in the lead with 888 units over PSU’s 648.
The MSU-PSU Blood Donor Challenge is coordinated in part by the MSU Red Cross Club, a student organization that helps with campus blood drives, donations for the Red Cross and community service in the East Lansing area.
The challenge has collected more than 72,000 blood donations since it began twenty years ago. That potentially saved more than 200,000 hospital patients dependent on blood transfusions for survival.
Penn State currently leads the blood donor challenge series 13-7, but MSU is going for its second win in a row.
Human biology senior and President of the MSURCC Brianne Feldpausch said the challenge is a good way to inspire students, faculty and staff to save lives with their donations.
“We like to have the competitive edge — it’s always a little more fun if you throw in a little competition,” Feldpausch said.
She said the student population is a great source for the Red Cross because students are more willing to learn about the necessity of blood donations.
“It’s really important to raise awareness to get people to donate, hopefully more than once,” Feldpausch said.
Neuroscience junior and secretary of the MSURCC Nicole Lewis said students should be informed about blood donations because by taking just a short amount of time to donate, three lives can be saved.
“I love helping people and I think this is a great way to help out even if you don’t know someone who is sick,” Lewis said.
She said the competition helps to bring the community together to volunteer by organizing and donating at blood drives.
Criminal justice junior and member of the MSU ACJA Aaron Schroeder said putting MSU and Penn State head to head gives students an incentive to collect as much blood as possible in the spirit of competition.
“There are more lives lost that could have been saved every year if they had the proper amount of blood that they need for emergency transfusions,” Schroeder said.
He said the MSU ACJA got involved because criminal justice is a very social field, and one of their core principles is community service.
“I don’t think students realize how much of an impact they can have by making donations and spreading the word,” Schroeder said.
To contribute to the competition, visit redcrossblood.org and enter sponsor code: MSU or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).
