Blood challenge invites new donors

Alpha Phi Omega fraternity, the athletic department and the Student Athlete Advisory Committee plan to expand hours and spread the word about the need for blood for the fourth Colonial Athletic Association Blood Challenge. The event pits VCU against 11 other colleges and universities in attracting the most blood donors.

“It will be almost a daylong event,” said Peyton Owens III, director of life skills and community outreach for VCU athletics. “Because we’re having a longer time frame for this activity it will allow us to encompass everyone within the blood drive this year.”

People can donate blood 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 15 and 16, in the University Student Commons as well as 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 15 at the Stuart C. Siegel Center.

“In the past we haven’t really necessarily had a long enough time frame to accommodate individuals who come and go,” Owens said. “So we’ve made some adjustments.”

A special feature this year offers potential donors the ability to schedule appointments before the drive begins by logging on to vadonor.com and using the sponsor code VCU. Fraternity members also plan to man signup tables 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. the preceding week in the University Student Commons to schedule more appointments. Each donor spends an estimated 30 to 45 minutes to give their blood and receives a drink, a snack and a T-shirt.

The fraternity and the advisory committee will share duties including advertising, providing sign-in tables at the event, doling out snacks and drinks plus assisting the blood center staff before and during the event.

“We basically have meetings with them. We brainstorm. We come up with ways to advertise… We think of stuff that we can do at the blood drive,” said Elizabeth Meade, Alpha Phi Omega’s alumni correspondence secretary and a former blood-drive chair.

Virginia Blood Services will staff the event and collect the blood for distribution to area hospitals.

Cynthia Reed, a former Alpha Phi Omega president and now its service vice president, said the fraternity has a long history of supporting blood drives.

“APO on this campus has always sponsored the blood drives. We’ve been around 11 years, and to my knowledge we’ve done the blood drives with Virginia Blood Services every year twice a semester,” Reed said.

Only the Nov. 15 donors, however, will count toward VCU’s numbers in the competition per league rules.

“We limited it to just one day,” said Kathleen Batterson, senior associate commissioner of the CAA. “They can have a two-day drive, but they must select in advance the one day for the challenge to be fair across-the-board for the schools.”

Drives at the 12 CAA-member institutions spanning Atlanta to Boston began Oct. 1 and ends Dec. 7.