Twice a semester Cosumnes River College holds a blood drive to encourage people to save lives by giving a quick pint of blood and then they can be on their way.  The incentive to donate is usually out of the kindness of a person’s heart and a free t-shirt.

Blood Source, the company that hosts the blood drives, came out with their trucks on Feb. 24 and 25.

The account manager for the blood drive, Felicia Roper,  said the first blood drive of the semester usually does well.

Roper said their goal for day one was 61 pints and 63 pints for day two. Not only did CRC reach the goal, but surpassed it.

Blood Source collected 66 pints of blood on day one and 80 pints on day two, Roper said, in all, that’s 146 pints to help save a life.

“The hospitals need 700 pints of blood a day and we try to get them that amount by doing blood drives and with the help of our regular donors,” Roper said.

Some people want to give but can’t due to certain restrictions. Roper said if the donor is dehydrated, just recently got a tattoo, can’t donate a whole pint or has a low iron count, they cannot donate blood.

Roper said that donors also should not lie on their questions because when the sample reaches the hospital, they won’t be able to use the blood that they need.

She said donating only one pint of blood can save three lives. Blood Source provides blood to over 40 hospitals thanks to the help of blood donors like the 197 participants CRC had this time around.  

Compared to the other Los Rios campus’s CRC doesn’t donate as much because of a smaller student body. The donation count also changes depending on the time of year the blood drive is held, Roper said.

Life experiences can cause people to change their minds on something they would rather not do.

Giving blood may seem like a daunting task to some, but others see the value in giving and surpasses the fear of it.

“My brother is a leukemia survivor,” said Rose Koloamatangi, a 22-year-old child development major. “Every time I have the chance to donate, I will because it’s for a good cause.”

Some say giving blood is not so bad if you look at it as a quick needle prick. You have to go in with a mentality that you can do it and it won’t be so bad.

“I donate blood for the shirt and to save lives, it’s good karma,” said Brian Roburts, a 19-year-old automotive technology major. “The needles don’t scare me. If you look away while they’re stabbing you, it’s not as bad.”

CRC may not give as much pints of blood due to the amounts the other colleges in the Los Rios district gives because of our enrollment total but either way at least we are all helping save lives.