Keene State outpaced the American Red Cross’s expectations during the Feb. 23 blood drive.
Jennifer Costa, regional communications director of the northern New England region at the American Red Cross said 36 units of blood were donated by students and community members alike. The organization sought to receive 30 units from the drive.
The Equinox previously reported the April 14, 2022 blood drive had a goal of collecting 28 units of blood, but ended up falling short at 20.
Additionally, The Equinox reported the Sept. 30, 2022 blood drive had a goal of 32 units of blood and exceeded the goal with 34. A unit of blood is roughly equivalent to a pint.
Director of Student Involvement Jessica Gagne Cloutier said the college has partnered with the American Red Cross for more than two decades.
“The American Red Cross, locally, has historically been the only group that does blood drives outside of a hospital setting so they’ve been our partner for a long time,” Gagne Cloutier said.
In terms of outreach, Gagne Cloutier said the office sends out emails to e-boards and advisers for several student organizations on campus.
“That gives us an opportunity to both market the drive and potentially market a club or organization and give them some additional publicity across campus,” she said.
Email blasts are traditionally sent out to the faculty and staff mailing list and the office posts on social media as well as the events calendar to ensure the community can plan accordingly.
Gagne Cloutier said she thinks students are the top group in terms of donors, followed by general community members then faculty and staff.
The Feb. 23 drive came while the organization was still recovering from a shortage early in the year.
Costa said the Red Cross routinely holds four drives at the college throughout the school year, and partners with colleges throughout the state to meet demand.
On Jan. 7, the organization issued an emergency blood shortage amid confounding variables that saw demand outpacing supply.
“What we saw in January was kind of a perfect storm of factors happening and the Red Cross is seeing a 20-year low in donors,” Costa said.
The COVID-19 pandemic in particular still looms large in terms of getting people to go back to donating, Costa said.
“It does specifically relate to young people … The Red Cross tries to make blood donation really accessible and convenient to people… what that used to entail was meeting people where they’re at,” she noted.
With much of the country’s population having their job and schooling shifted to remote, Costa said the organization had to move drive locations to community partners.
“There are almost a whole generation, four years of young people who didn’t have that opportunity to have that exposure,” Costa said.
Costa said to meet patient needs in New Hampshire, there needs to be 165 pints of whole blood collected daily. The presence of winter weather causing appointment cancelation creates a particular strain on the region’s supply.
“During the pandemic, we saw our 18-24 blood demographic drop 50 percent… young people have tremendous power to help save lives,” Costa said.
On Feb. 16, the Red Cross was able to pare its emergency request back, with donors answering the organization’s call. However, Costa said the blood supply remains volatile and the need is still present.
For those who missed the drive but still wish to donate, Costa said they can go to redcrossblood.org and input their zip code or home address to see appointment availability over the next two weeks.
Nathan Hope can be contacted at
nhope@kscequinox.com
