UD wins CAA Blood Challenge again

Blood Bank of Delmarva phlebotomist Marie Harris prepares to draw blood from Robert Ketcham, laboratory coordinator, biological sciences.

4:24 p.m., Dec. 1, 2004--UD has won the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Blood Challenge title for the third consecutive year, the CAA announced Wednesday, Dec. 1. University of Delaware students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends joined together to donate 588 units of blood on Nov. 17.

UD won the CAA Blood Challenge with 857 attempted donors and 588 units of blood collected. UD more than doubled its number of attempted donors and collected 277 more units of blood than a year ago. It was once again the largest single-day blood drive in the history of the Blood Bank of Delmarva.

Drexel University finished second with 509 units of blood, followed by Towson University with 277, UNC Wilmington with 174 units, the College of William and Mary with 169 and Hofstra University with 153.

The third-annual CAA Blood Challenge was once again a tremendous success, shattering all previous records with 2,929 attempted donors and 2,114 productive units of blood collected from the 10 CAA campuses. Those totals represent an amazing 50 percent increase over the amount of blood collected during last year’s campaign and an 81.5 percent increase over the inaugural campaign in 2002.

“We are extremely proud of the continued success of the CAA Blood Challenge,” CAA Commissioner Tom Yeager said. “To have raised more than 2,000 units of blood, especially at this critical time of year, is an incredible accomplishment. Our thanks go out to the many volunteers on each of our campuses who participated in this project and to all of the people who took time to donate blood. We look forward to raising the donor totals even higher in the future.”

The CAA Blood Challenge was developed in 2002 by the conference presidents at the suggestion of UD President David P. Roselle as a fun way to emphasize the critical importance of donating blood. Each CAA institution worked with its local blood service center and designated one day during the fall to conduct a campuswide blood drive. Student groups, faculty, staff and alumni were all encouraged to participate.

“We congratulate and are extremely grateful to Dr. Roselle and the hundreds of good people at the University of Delaware who planned and took part in this record-setting blood drive,” said Robert L. Travis, president and CEO of the Blood Bank of Delmarva. “We are also thankful to the Colonial Athletic Association for sponsoring the Challenge, which is truly helping the 10 communities involved in a very significant way. Many lives are being saved in the spirit of friendly competition. Everyone involved should feel very proud of what they have accomplished.”

“The CAA Challenge is a happy combination of an important public service, a competition and fun,” Roselle said. “It is wonderful that staff and students of the CAA institutions are enthusiastic about a competition in which the real winners are persons in need in our communities.”

Commissioner Yeager will present University of Delaware administrators with an award in recognition of their outstanding achievement during the basketball season.

Photo by Kathy Atkinson

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