This week, approximately 431 Brunonians donated a total of 347 pints of blood to the Rhode Island Blood Center in a drive organized by the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity.
The blood drive took place Tuesday through Thursday in Sayles Hall and far exceeded the event goal of gathering 300 pints.
New methods of publicizing the event, including the Facebook events application and online appointment scheduling, may have been responsible for the unusually strong turnout. "I've been doing this for six years, and the thing that I've noticed differently is definitely the electronic media," said Peter Hanney, manager of donor recruitment at the Rhode Island Blood Center.
Brown was one of the first institutions to host a blood drive when the Rhode Island Blood Center opened in May of 1979. Since then, Brown's contribution has totaled over 32,000 pints of blood - a record, according to Hanney. "URI keeps trying to beat us," he added with a smile.
The donated blood will benefit patients throughout Rhode Island, but each year an increasing amount of it goes out of state as well, Hanney said. It is most commonly used for blood transfusions to cancer patients.
"It can help save someone's life," said Jason Ziplow '10, community service chair of AEPi. "A couple years ago, my father needed blood transfusions every couple weeks or so, so that was important to him, and it became important to me."
Though the need for blood is great, many people are ineligible to donate for a variety of reasons. Brown's deferral rate is extremely high, between 20 and 30 percent, largely due to students' recent international travel.
The next blood drive is scheduled to take place Monday, Dec. 3 through Wednesday, Dec. 5 in Leung Gallery at Faunce House.
