Blood drive canceled, not rescheduled

The American Red Cross of Bloomington, 1600 W. Third St., canceled its blood drive for the second time and has yet to reschedule it. \nOriginally, the blood drive was scheduled for May 19 at the Army Reserve Center, 520 S. Woodcrest Dr. Once that drive was cancelled, it was rescheduled for this Saturday at College Mall, 2894 E. Third St. \nDon Creek, donor representative at the American Red Cross of Bloomington, said the last time they had a blood drive at the mall, only three donors showed up. \nCreek also added that the organization has no control over signage in the mall parking lots and that it might have been difficult for potential donors to find the correct location. \n“They wouldn’t let us have yard signs to let people know,” Creek said. \nAccording to http://www.givebloodnow.org, the American Red Cross in the River Valley Region, of which Bloomington is a part, has an overall blood supply of 1.18 days, an amount that is considered low. The blood types that are critically low are O+ and O-. The organization updates http://www.givebloodnow.org daily with overall blood supply. \nIn a May 17 Indiana Daily Student article, Creek said the Red Cross needs 650 to 700 units of blood every day during the work week. He also said that throughout the weekend, they need 200 to 250 units of blood. According to the article, there were more than 50 blood drives on campus last school year, during which about one-third of students gave blood.\nHowever, in the community as a whole, not enough people are giving blood. \n“The demand for blood is increasing, and only 5 percent of the population is donating,” Creek said in the article. “We accept responsibility for that – for not reminding people.”\nCreek said the problem with low donor turnout is that this generation has not had a proper education program to make them aware of the need for blood.\n“We’re losing a generation of donors,” Creek said. “And we haven’t had enough education to teach the younger generation.” \nHe said he would like to hold the largest blood drive in Indiana as part of an IU versus Purdue challenge and that, after the drive, IU would never lose to Purdue again. Creek also said in the article that he hoped he could set up a competition between all of the Big 10 schools.\nFrom 1-6 p.m on May 29, AMVETS, 5227 W. Airport Rd., will host another blood drive.\nAccording to Red Cross’s Web site, the three basic requirements for donating blood include being at least 17 years old, weighing at least 110 pounds and being generally healthy. To donate blood to the American Red Cross of Bloomington, call (812) 331-1300.