Whitman’s reddest tradition is the Red Cross Blood Drive, where members of the Whitman community can help contribute to crucial health initiatives. This year, the Blood Drive was held in collaboration with Whitman’s Pre-Health Society, which has consistently worked with the Red Cross to bring the Blood Drive to campus annually.

This year, the Blood Drive held on Nov. 15 was packed with donors, and Eliza Daigle, senior and President of the Pre-Health Society, talked about the large impact that came from a high volume of sign-ups. 

“We were all really grateful for how eager Whitman students are to donate, when we posted the signup sheet it was filled within 12 hours. I was told we had 41 units collected from [about] 50 donors,” Daigle said.

According to the Red Cross, the average red blood cell transfusion requires around three units of blood. Since donated blood has a broad range of medical applications, each donation has the power to save multiple lives.

Students who hoped to take the next step of commitment beyond donation volunteered to help run the Blood Drive. Anna Shimkus, junior Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Molecular Biology (BBMB) major, volunteered this year to help community health and saw others do the same. Shimkus was proud of her fellow students who took on hardship for the benefit of others.

“I know that blood donations are always needed at hospitals and donating events are an important part of that process, so I volunteered to help make that process easier for the other Red Cross professionals that were facilitating the Blood Drive,” Shimkus said. “My favorite part was seeing all the different community members, some who I recognized, some who I didn’t, who were committing their time, and taking on some of the physically taxing side effects of donating blood, in order to help others.”

Luke Mangino, senior BBMB major and Vice President of the Pre-Health Society, was very grateful for all the volunteers and donors who helped the Blood Drive run smoothly. Without these volunteers, a Blood Drive conveniently located on campus would not be possible. 

“Everyone who volunteers really wants to be there to help, so they are very easy to work with. We did have some issues… this year, but we were able to get that all sorted out thanks to some people who were willing to be flexible with us. We as a school are actually giving back to the community and helping people in a very crucial way,” Mangino said.

Rachel Yates, a sophomore Environmental Science-Biology major, went to the Blood Drive with sorority sisters and they donated blood together. For Yates and many others who donated the campus Blood Drive motivated them to donate blood for the first time. 

“I had a good experience giving blood and the whole process was very smooth for me. Some of my DG friends and I signed up a couple weeks ago so we could go together. This was my first time giving blood so I was a little nervous, but having them there helped a lot… I would definitely do it again in the future,” Yates said.

Daigle is excited to see the Blood Drive continue to act as a community-oriented Whitman tradition. Daigle has worked on the Blood Drive the majority of her years at Whitman and is inspired to see familiar faces giving blood and giving time year-to-year.

“I think it’s really cool how eager people are to help out, and people who know that they do well with blood donations come back year after year. We have quite a few people that I see their names on the list for the last four drives, which is pretty cool, and it’s nice that people have a way that they can contribute to health care… the Red Cross is always in need of blood,” Daigle said. 

Whitman’s Blood Drive will return next semester and students interested in giving blood or volunteering can look for emails with sign-up sheets to secure a spot. Giving blood is a constant need for the local health and well-being of our Walla Walla community, and the Blood Drive continues to be one way Whitman students can help those in need.