President Cantwell urges donations at annual Blood Battle

This week Utah State University is hosting the 21st annual Blood Battle in collaboration with Weber State University. The blood drive is a competition between the two universities to bring in the most donations.

The American Red Cross invites donors of all blood types to address a critical blood shortage in the United States. According to a Red Cross press release, its national blood inventory “plummeted more than 25% in July.” 

Several factors including record summer heat and natural disasters contribute to this crisis. The Red Cross “continues to face the fewest number of people donating blood in the past two decades.” 

USU President Elizabeth Cantwell donated at Blood Battle earlier this week and urges students and Cache Valley community members to do the same. 

“When I was donating blood a couple days ago there weren’t a lot of people in the blood donation center,” Cantwell said. “We need more people to go. It’s something we can do that serves every other citizen of the country.”

In an article published by PennState Health News, Dr. Melissa George, medical director of transfusion medicine at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, emphasized that young adults are vital to increasing blood donation trends.

“We have a desperate, desperate need for young, healthy donors. Many blood donors are retirees, and we lose more and more of them each year due to their own health conditions,” George said. “We need to get the younger generations to be committed.” 

Cantwell hopes that the friendly competition between USU and WSU will act as an additional incentive for people to donate.

“We should be able to win this,” Cantwell said. “We have more students, we have more faculty and staff.”

Although the blood drive is a competition between universities, members of the community are welcome and encouraged to participate. 

“The blood donation center is open to anybody,” Cantwell said. “If you want to donate blood here and be part of the blood battle with Weber, absolutely come on up.”

According to the Red Cross, all blood types are needed, “especially types O positive and O negative, as well as platelet donations.”

For anyone who would like to participate in Blood Battle, the last opportunity to donate is Sept. 6 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Appointments are available online on the Universities’ website, but walk-ins are also welcome. 

“Now is the time to get into the habit of being a blood donor,” Cantwell said. “It’s a gateway habit to so many other kinds of lifelong service.”