UD wins national award for blood drives

6 p.m., May 20, 2005--The University of Delaware has received a Gold Award of Excellence from America’s Blood Centers for its continuing support of community blood-drive initiatives.

America’s Blood Centers, North America’s largest network of
nonprofit, community-based blood centers, serves more than 150 million individuals through its efforts at 600-plus collection sites in the United States and Canada.

The Gold Award of Excellence received by UD is one of 15 given by America’s Blood Centers in recognition of the nation’s top individual and organizational commitments to community blood programs.

According to the Blood Bank of Delmarva, the award honors UD for its efforts to increase awareness of the need for blood donations and for the University’s “invaluable assistance to the blood banking community.”

Sponsored blood drives, such as the 12 held during the UD academic year, help to ensure an adequate blood supply for more than 4.5 million patients annually.

UD President David P. Roselle accepted the award at a meeting held May 11 at the University & Whist Club.

UD has won the Colonial Athletic Association’s (CAA) “Have A Heart” Blood Challenge annually since its inception three years.

The 2004 “Have A Heart” Blood Challenge attracted 857 potential donors, and more than 558 units of blood were collected by staffers from the Blood Bank of Delmarva. This year’s challenge turned out to be the largest single-day event in Blood Bank of Delmarva’s history.

UD students, faculty, staff and alumni who contribute during the Blood Challenge now make up about 85 percent of UD’s total donors.

Throughout the Colonial Athletic Association, more than 2,114 units of blood were collected during this year’s “Have A Heart” Blood Challenge. Other CAA schools participating in the event include the University of North Carolina Wilmington; Drexel, George Mason, Hosftra, James Madison, Old Dominion, Towson and Virginia commonwealth universities; and the College of William and Mary.

In 2002, the CAA’s presidents’ group members were considering a way for the conference to challenge its members and to benefit the public good. Roselle suggested emphasizing the critical importance of blood donations, and the idea of a conference-wide blood drive was born.

Student groups recognized for blood drive efforts

Blood Drive awards also were given recently to student groups that have had the best turnout for campus blood drives. At the YoUDee Student Leadership Awards Ceremony in the Trabant University Center on May 11, Shay Robb, school program and blood drive coordinator for Blood Bank of Delmarva, recognized UD student organizations for their support of campus blood drives during the 2004-05 academic year.

Honorees included Alpha Phi; Gamma Sigma Sigma national service sorority, HOLA, Kappa Alpha; Kappa Alpha Theta; Kappa Delta Rho; Lambda Chi Alpha; Phi Sigma Pi national honor fraternity, Phi Sigma Sigma, Resident Student Association; Sigma Chi and the Student Nurses Organization.

Article by Jerry Rhodes

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