On April 15, 2024, a student-led blood drive was held by students in the Principles of Advertising class, who teamed up with ImpactLife Blood Center. Throughout the day, 33 donations were collected and about 60% of participants were first-time donors.
The students surpassed their goal of 30 donors, and the total number of donations will impact up to 132 patients.
ImpactLife Account Manager Megan Dee said, “I know that they [advertising students] probably feel it, but they really did a fantastic job.”
Led by professor Tara Allen, the class created different posters, announcements and hosted blood typing events that led up to the blood drive. They even visited other classes to share the upcoming event.
Business marketing student Madison Tarbell was part of the advisement team. After seeing many donors come in, she said, “It’s nice to see all of our hard work.” Tarbell even donated herself and admitted her nervousness. She said what helped her was “…to laugh, talk to friends, and stay distracted.”
ImpactLife came prepared to help distract nervous donors. They provided virtual reality headsets to help donors stay distracted with a calming game of planting flowers.
Amber Pattee, Kirkwood nursing staff and blood donor, supported the idea. “Part of the fear of giving is the unknown. We do distractions, so when giving blood that distraction helps,” she said.
Pattee also shared her own reason for donating blood. “We’re completely in need of it and it’s important for everyone to do their part,” she said.
Donors also explained their own reasoning for donating, though all of them agree with Liberal Arts student Fatima Musa who said, “To save a life.”
Sammy the Eagle even stopped by the event to help encourage others to donate blood.
For those who didn’t have the chance to donate, there are ImpactLife locations across Iowa, including two in Cedar Rapids.
Categories: Campus News, News
