De Anza community encouraged to donate blood this Thursday
January 25, 2016
The Stanford Blood Center will collect blood from De Anza College Jan. 28 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Conference Rooms A and B at the Campus Center.
Drop-ins are welcome, but priority goes to those who made an appointment online (you can do so here).
In exchange for a pint of their blood, donors will receive a certificate for a pint of Baskin-Robbins ice cream, in addition to cookies and juice available after donation. Donors will also receive points that can accumulate toward prizes like bags and T-shirts.
“I am afraid of needles going through my skin,” said Jennie Ojeda, 20, biology major, “but I will probably donate because it will be for a good cause and there will be prizes.”
Thirty-eight percent of the general public is eligible to donate, but fewer than 10 percent of those eligible actually donate, according to the Stanford Blood Center.
Blood is “a perishable food item” that needs to be used as soon as possible, said Mary Sullivan, director of health education and wellness at De Anza.
“Five percent of all hospital patients have to receive a blood transfusion,” Sullivan said.
Within 48 hours of donation, the blood has already been tested and sent to a patient.
Donors must be at least 17 years old, weigh a minimum of 110 pounds, have no flu or cold symptoms and bring photo ID.
According to FDA regulations, men who have had sex with another man and people who have gotten tattoos within the last year are not eligible to donate. People who have heart and kidney problems are also ineligible.
Sarah Ciprian, 18, nursing major, said she wishes she could donate but cannot because of a kidney problem.
International students are welcome to donate, as long as they haven’t traveled to certain countries at high-risk of contracting malaria. Those using antidepressants and recreational drugs like marijuana can donate as well.
“Whatever is in your blood will go into a very sick person, so you want your blood to be as healthy and as safe as can be,” Sullivan said. “We cannot scientifically make blood. It has to come from another human being.”