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Campus helps hospital kick off holiday blood drive

Sixty students, staff and faculty members turned out to donate blood on a Wednesday in late November, despite the crush of work they needed to complete before leaving for the fall break.

A mobile donor unit from Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula (CHOMP) spent four hours at the Student Center, the first stop on its six-week holiday blood drive.

Fifty units were collected. Some potential donors had to be deferred for a variety of reasons – they’d recently traveled to an area where malaria is prevalent; they’ve had a tattoo recently; or they had a low blood count. “The number of units collected is 19 percent of our average mobile blood collection for a month,” said Nancy Shammas, CHOMP’s donor recruiter. “It’s significant to us – a big contribution.” It was also significant for the students who participated. “This is my third time giving blood with CHOMP, and each time has been a piece of cake,” said Zachary Johnson. “To me, giving blood is an easy way to help save lives and do my part. It’s inspiring to see all the campus organizations and clubs, like my fraternity, Kappa Sigma, come together to make a difference in the live of others.” The event was a joint effort by the campus Health Center, Associated Students and the Health and Wellness peer educators, 15 student volunteers who have been trained to do health education and outreach on campus. Officials at the hospital remind us that blood donation is an important way for healthy people to help their community. Blood cannot be manufactured; the only way to keep up with the demand is through regular blood donations from healthy volunteer donors. That message wasn’t lost on Alexandria Jones, a student who said she wasn’t a big fan of needles. “But saving a life seemed more important than my little fear,” she said. Anyone who missed the on-campus opportunity can visit the hospital's Monterey facility, at 576 Hartnell St., to give blood. Call 625-4814 to make an appointment. Photo: Brian Scott uses the time to work on his iPad