Red Cross of Bloomington needs donors

The American Red Cross of Bloomington, 1600 W. Third St., will be holding a blood drive Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at College Mall, 2894 E. Third St. \nThe blood drive was originally supposed to be held at the Army Reserve Center, 520 S. Woodscrest Dr. on May 19. Tammy Myers, a representative at the Army Reserve Center, said they are trying to schedule another blood drive for their center. \n“A mission came up and all our people are going to be gone,” Myers said in regard to the cancellation. \nDon Creek, donor representative at the American Red Cross in Bloomington, said the mall would not let them set up inside, but there will be a table inside hoping to direct pedestrian traffic to the drive.\n“(I’m) working on making this a successful blood drive,” Creek said \nAccording to www.givebloodnow.org, the American Red Cross in the River Valley Region has an overall blood supply of 1.56 days, which is considered low. The blood types that are critically low are O positive, O negative, B negative and A negative. The “give blood now” Web site is updated daily with overall blood supply. \nCreek said the American Red Cross needs 650 to 700 units of blood every working day. Throughout the weekend, they need 200 to 250 units of blood. \nCreek added that last year about one-third of students on campus donated blood. There were more than 50 blood drives on campus alone last school year, said Creek.\n“I’m trying to get this program started up to get (student participation) up to half or better,” Creek said. \nCreek’s program hopes to work with the education program to teach the community about the necessity of donating blood. \n“The demand for blood is increasing, and only 5 percent of the population is donating,” Creek said. \nCreek said he wants to get students involved in one- to two-day blood drives. \n“I would like to have the biggest blood drive in Indiana on IU’s campus,” Creek said.\nHe hopes the blood drive will be part of an IU versus Purdue challenge and hopes that, with the drive, IU will never lose to Purdue again. Creek also hopes he can set up a competition between all of the Big 10 schools.\nAccording to Red Cross’s Web site, there are three basic requirements for donating blood, which include being at least 17 years old, weighing at least 110 pounds and being generally healthy. To donate blood to the American Red Cross in Bloomington, contact them at (812) 331-1300.