Next week, Oct. 6 to 9 be sure to stop by the Memorial Union to donate blood to Iowa State’s 52^nd annual Blood Drive. The drive will be held in the Great Hall Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“It is so important for students to donate,” said Amy Cappel, co-director of the ISU Blood Drive and senior in business management. “Blood is needed everyday and for each donation students can save up to three lives.”

This year the drive is expecting about 2,400 donations. Kenny Wade, co-director and senior in hospitality management, explains that the numbers coming in each day all depend on which blood centers are there and what day of the week it is.

“Last semester we collected 2,038 donations,” said Wade. “Fall drives are usually more successful, so we feel good about our goal. Hopefully we can get even more!”

There is no need to register beforehand in order to donate. Students will be able to register in the Cardinal Room at the Memorial Union that the blood centers have set up. Students who have donated in past years can bring their donor cards to speed up the process.

“If you come early in the week and early in the morning the donation time is typically a little faster,” said Shannon Ure, co-director and senior in Animal Science Pre Vet. “Although, the pre-donation process time can vary due to the traffic within the drive.

The ISU Blood Drive’s goal for this event is see involvement from all across campus and ultimately collect as may donations as possible to save lives!

“If every undergraduate student at Iowa State donated blood, we could save almost 100,000 lives.” Cappel said.