The Student Government Association (SGA) hosted a blood drive from Sept. 28-29 in front of the Sims Memorial Library.
“It’s something we’ve done for quite a while now,” said William Takewell, SGA associate chief justice and junior organizational communication major. “The first time, United Blood Services actually contacted us about hosting a blood drive. We do it because it’s a community project where students can easily get involved.”
The blood donated by students will be given to the United Blood Services blood bank in Baton Rouge.
“We always try and host the blood drive just before Homecoming, due to the fact that many accidents happen during the Homecoming week,” said Lana Glasper, SGA chief justice and general studies senior.
The blood drive is typically held once a semester, and a blood drive was hosted this past summer by SGA also.
“We’re not sure when the next one will be yet, but it’ll be sometime next semester,” said Takewell. “It just depends on how much blood was donated this semester.”
While the blood drive is undoubtedly a prominent event on SGA’s agenda, it is not the only project that has been hosted already this year.
“We’ve already hosted a canned food drive that went to multiple homeless shelters around the parish, and we have a few more ideas for this semester, and in the long term,” said Takewell. “One major statistic that we think everyone should know is that one donation of blood can save up to three lives. We’ve really made that a focal point of our campaign to advertise the blood drive this semester. This is a becoming quite a tradition for Southeastern, and we would like to keep it going.”
Students have various personal reasons for donating blood. Some were focused entirely on doing a service to their community.
“I wanted to support the community and the people that were in need of blood,” said Cody LeBlanc, a freshman music education major.
Others may have had differing reasons. However, regardless of the specific intentions, the blood donations will ultimately benefit those in need.
“From the other side of things, Southeastern students did their part, no matter what their reasoning,” said sophomore accounting major Matthew Newell. “I really just wanted to help out the cause and the people in need.”
For information on future blood drives, or more information about the benefits of giving blood, the United Blood Services can be contacted by phone at 225-769-7233. The Web site provides additional information and is available at www.unitedbloodservices.org.