Portland State and the American Red Cross are teaming up again for the third of four annual campus blood drives this week. From Monday, July 27 to Thursday, July 30, students and non-students alike can sign up to donate blood on the third floor of Smith Memorial Student Union.
In a January issue of the Vanguard, Gwyn Ashcom, the Health Educator for PSU’s Center for Student Health and Counseling and Blood Drive Coordinator, said that PSU and the Red Cross have been doing these blood drives officially since 1979, but the relationship between the two organizations was established much further back than the 1970s.
“We did one as far back as the Korean War in the 1950s,” she said.
PSU hosts these blood drives every term throughout the year. According to Ashcom, the Portland metro region requires roughly 5,000 units of blood every week, and the PSU blood drive provides a significant portion of that blood.
In order for someone to qualify as a donor, they must be in good overall health, at least 110 pounds and at least 17 years of age.
The PSU blood drive is being held in SMSU 327/8/9 and is open July 27 until July 30, 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Interested donors must make appointments beforehand.
For more information, please visit redcrossblood.org.
