Leaurin Boyington has never given blood before, but she’s never had much of a reason to do so, either.
In the wake of Tuesday’s apparent terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, she knew it was time to give it a try.
“Giving blood (Wednesday) is really helping people,” the supply chain management freshman said. “I mean, I’m missing a day of class when (my professor) is talking about the same people I’m trying to help.”
Boyington was approached by the sisters of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. in the International Center on Tuesday while she watched the day’s events unfold on one of the center’s TVs.
Delta Sigma Theta’s blood drive at the Union on Wednesday was already scheduled when the attacks in New York and Washington occurred. The sorority usually holds two blood drives per year.
“We were trying to get more people to come out for the drive when this happened,” said Shalene Amankrah, sorority president and interior design senior. “During breaks in the coverage we’d announce if people wanted to help by donating we’d be here (Wednesday).”
And the announcements worked. By noon, there was a three-hour wait to donate.
But that didn’t discourage the line from growing.
Carol Lovelady, American Red Cross donor recruitment representative for MSU, said they saw several first-time donors.
“The students have been wonderful because I tell them it’s at least a three-hour wait and they say they don’t care - they’ll wait as long as it takes,” she said. “We’ll keep going until the nurses and the lines clear up or we just can’t take anymore. We’re hoping to collect 80 to 100 pints of blood, and the original goal was 50 pints, but we have no clue how much we’ll actually gather.”
Lansing resident Lucinda Means was about halfway through the line at 1 p.m. As a regular O negative universal blood donor, she was glad to see the long lines but said she hopes they will continue in the future.
“Burn victims need blood for months and months after their injuries, and there is always a blood shortage,” she said.
Means, who is originally from the Pittsburgh area, was finally able to locate all of her friends in the New York, Washington and Pittsburgh areas after a harrowing day of phone calls.
“I had to leave work (Tuesday) because I couldn’t work anymore,” she said. “I was too disheartened.”
Kasandra Scales, sorority vice president and physiology junior, said the drive’s response has been amazing in ways beyond the large turnout.
“A lot of people who didn’t have three hours to wait or couldn’t give blood for another reason were handing out cookies to donors or helping in whatever way they could,” Scales said.
Puffin’s Pastry Shop on campus also donated cookies, Little Caesars Pizza donated pizza and the Union provided water.
Stacy Riddle, a 2000 MSU graduate, also made the trek out to the Union to donate blood.
“Being in this part of the country, there’s not much we can do but give our blood and prayers to the people on the East Coast,” she said. “Now is a natural time to go out and do this.
“It’s relatively painless and its something that helps a lot of people now and in the future.”
