Last semester, the Mesa College Honors Club coordinated the most successful blood drive in the history of Mesa College by collecting 63 units of donated blood. This semester blood drive coordinator Megan Sandoval was hopeful that this blood drive would be even more successful than the last.

The Honors Club in conjunction with the San Diego Blood Bank held a two-day blood drive in front of the Mesa gymnasium on Nov. 2 and Nov. 3 with the help of members and volunteers from the Associated Student Government, Veterans Affairs, other individuals, and Phi Theta Kappa, one of three active honor societies on campus.

The week before the blood drive the Honors Club set up a table outside the LRC to encourage students to sign-up as donors and set appointments for their donation. While appointments were not required to donate blood, Honors Club Director of Fundraising, Jay Aquino, agrees that they did help things progress faster and more smoothly.

In addition to setting up their recruitment table last week, club members and volunteers also passed out flyers to inform students regarding the date and venue of the blood drive, as well as flyers with valuable information for blood donors and requirements.

 "This is the first blood drive I’ve coordinated," said Sandoval, "I realize how important [donating] is and I’m really disappointed that I won’t be donating."  Sandoval, who has previously donated blood, is B-negative, which is according to SDBB registered nurse, Linda Missoni, one of the rarer blood types, but due to a new tattoo, she was unable to donate. 

Debra Kim, this semester’s Honors Club President was also unable to donate blood due to health complications; a common problem barring many willful altruistic students from donating their much needed blood. Kim, along with other donors who were turned down offered their aid to the cause by assisting in coordinating the drive and recruiting donors.

"We’ve had help from the ASG in advertising, and the San Diego Blood Bank helped us to get things started this morning," said Sandoval. Honors Club members, nurses, and volunteers started preparing for the event on Monday at 9:30 a.m., when the two bloodmobile buses arrived.

According to Kim and Joshua Ray, last semester’s Club President and blood drive coordinator the two-day drive was originally scheduled since April, to be held indoors in rooms H117 and H118, but due to complications arising from the unanticipated H1N1 vaccinations, the Honors Club was forced to look for alternative venues.

 "We set up the flyers and posters around campus during the drive to guide and attract students," said Sandoval.

The recruiters outside the LRC were able to sign up about 50 donators for Monday’s blood drive, as well as Tuesday’s. However, Sandoval said "there were a surprising amount of walk-ins and they almost outnumbered the appointments."

 "It always feels good to help," said Aquino, "every blood drive I go to I always hear that they don’t have enough. Of all the blood that is donated, a large percentage is often rejected."

By 3:00 p.m. on Nov. 2, an hour from closing, the Honors Club surpassed the record set last semester by collecting 65 units of whole blood, and by 4:00 p.m. they had collected 73 units. The following morning, only one bus, which arrived slightly later than yesterday, was parked in the lot near the Mesa gymnasium as the other was needed for a separate SDBB blood drive in progress elsewhere.

"It feels good to help in any way," said Aquino, "whether it’s recruiting, donating blood, donating time, bringing someone to donate with you, or telling other people about the drive. It feels good to volunteer.”

Of the nearly 80 people that signed up and arrived as walk-ins on the second day, Missoni says that they had 19 deferrals. "There are a varied number of reasons for why some blood donors are rejected or deferred," said San Diego Blood Bank phlebotomist, Briana Desingano, "medical history, weight, iron levels, and certain medications are some reasons donors are turned down."

Other students walked away from the drive without getting their blood drawn, due to conflicts with their class schedules. A whole blood donation, which is a pint or unit of blood that is drawn from the forearm, takes about 10 minutes. However, that did not include the wait, which for some donors lasted nearly 25 minutes.

"Our goal for the drive this semester was simply to surpass last semester," said Sandoval, "but it’s good to hear that our blood drive is a success, that we’ve made a contribution."

With the closing of the second day, 43 additional units were collected, bringing the combined collected units of blood to a total of 116 pints.