‘Tis the season for blood-and not just the fake packets of it at Spirit Halloween in the mall. The Student Blood Drive is hosting is bi-annual donation event this week and Iowa State students, staff and faculty as well as Ames residents are encouraged to donate. 

This year’s blood drive takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday in the Great Hall at the Memorial Union. The drive is hosted by the Red Cross and Student Blood Drive. Any donors who show up and give blood will be gifted with a Red Cross T-shirt and a $10 EatStreet Gift Card, while supplies last.

 Due to a recent blood shortage nationwide, many such as Berrett Rice, an Ames resident, received an email from the Red Cross alerting him about a critical need for blood, so he decided to help out by donating.

“There is a very large blood shortage at the moment,” says Gavin Sullivan, a senior majoring in supply chain management, who is helping out the Student Blood Drive this year. “The overall goal for the drive is really to get as many donors as we can throughout the four days.” 

As of Oct. 4, the blood drive is expecting to have over 300 donors by the end of the day, aiming for 1,400 by the end of the week, said Sullivan. The Iowa State University Student Blood Drive is the second largest in the country, which he said is important for people to help donate and participate in, as it benefits the Red Cross greatly by providing them with plenty of pints of blood. 

The American Red Cross altered COVID-19 restrictions to just requiring a face mask while in the areas where donations occur. As opposed to last year’s blood drive which had social distancing and preliminary COVID-19 symptom checks also in place. 

Repeat donor Allyn Carson, an Ames resident who graduated from Iowa State University, may not be in the science field but by donating blood is one way she can support the science community for research when asked why she wanted to donate in the cantina area post-donation. 

Alec Finger, a sophomore majoring in psychology, felt he needed to give to those in need when asked about donating. This is his third year volunteering for the student blood drive. He also helped out his hometown high school’s blood drive as well.