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Summer can be long and arid, with water in short supply.
But water isn't the only life-sustaining liquid threatened by the season. One
just as precious often dwindles during summer months--blood.
That's why the American Red Cross will look to the University community for
help July 29, when the 10th annual campuswide blood
drive will run from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Dean E. Smith Center. The drive
will have a goal of 1,000 pints. Last year, 1,034 donors gave a total of 919
pints.
"We encourage as many people as possible to take part in the blood drive,"
said Patti Smith, Employee Services programs manager. "It's important for the
University community to show its support of such a worthwhile cause."
Departmental recruiters will begin soliciting participants June 17, so if you
haven't been contacted by your recruiter, you should be within the next week or
so.
Faculty and staff who need to find out their recruiter's name may call Katrina
Coble at
2-1801 or Lucy Piner at 2-8210. Employees also may make an appointment by
calling 96BLOOD or just dialing BLOOD (2-5663) from within the University.
The drive is not limited to University employees. Family members, neighbors
and friends are welcome to participate as well. To celebrate the drive's 10th
anniversary, all donors will get a T-shirt sporting the anniversary logo.
The theme of this year's drive is "Ten Years of Giving...Countless Years of
Life." Lila Berry, the theme's creator, said the message behind the words is
simple.
"People who otherwise might have died will have many more years ahead of
them," said Berry, an accounting technician in the Department of City and
Regional Planning.
Low blood supplies
Summer months typically drain area blood reserves, according to Lisa Whitaker,
donor recruitment manager for the Red Cross Carolinas Blood Region.
The need for blood rises in the summer, Whitaker said, because more people
undergo elective surgery and the number of accidents increases due to more
highway travel and water recreation. Also, fewer students are on campus to
donate blood.
All of which leaves a critical hole for the University to fill.
"What this [the campuswide drive] means, essentially, is a whole day's
collection from one sponsor group, which is unheard of during the summer,"
Whitaker said.
Typically, she added, 15 to 20 drives are required daily to meet local
hospitals' blood needs.
Noting the campuswide drive's 10th anniversary, Whitaker said the University's
support has been critical over the past nine years, a stretch that has yielded
7,592 pints of blood.
"I think the community owes the University faculty, staff, students,
organizers and administrators a huge amount of thanks for their support,
particularly during such a critical time of year," she said.
Appointments encouraged
The Carolina drive is the only one scheduled July 29, enabling Red Cross staff
to concentrate their efforts in Chapel Hill that day. Access to a computer
database with information on previous donors should smooth registration.
But while taking part in the drive should be easy, Smith still encourages
donors to make an appointment.
"While walk-in donors are welcome, we advise people to make an appointment to
donate, if at all possible," Smith said. "That way, we can avoid bottlenecks
that might be created by a surge of people during the lunch hour, for
instance."
Volunteers needed
Besides donors, the drive also needs a volunteer work force so the event will
run smoothly.
Around 180 volunteers are needed for the drive, said Bob Schreiner (Computing
and Information Services), who, along with Ann Hamner (biostatistics), is a
volunteer coordinator.
"University volunteers are absolutely vital to the success of the blood
drive," Schreiner said. "The services of our volunteers complement those of the
Red Cross's professional staff. Without a large number of UNC volunteers, the
Red Cross would be unable to hold such an important blood drive. Volunteering
also offers many who, for one reason or another, cannot donate blood a
significant opportunity to aid people in need."
Volunteer tasks will include greeting donors and helping with check-in,
assisting with decorations, escorting donors from one location to another in
the Smith Center and working in the canteen area--where donors receive snacks
for an energy boost.
Volunteers may sign up for one or more of five shifts: 7-9:30 a.m., 9:30
a.m.-noon, noon-2 p.m., 2-4 p.m and 4-6:30 p.m.
Employees may volunteer by e-mail to blood98@unc.edu They also may call
Hamner, 6-7291, or Schreiner, 6-3942. Volunteers may donate blood, but they
should do so after their work shifts to avoid draining their energy.
For more information on the drive, call Patti Smith at 2-1483 and see the
blood drive's web site at http://www.sph.unc.edu/blood
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