The Student Life Information Center and Phi Kappa Theta will be holding their semi-annual blood drive on Thursday, Oct. 14 from 9 a.m.-l 2:30 p.m. in the gymnasium.

The PTK and SLIC typically put on two blood drives a year – one in October and one in April. They also held one over the summer.

“Historically, our amount of blood usually exceeds 50 pints,” says Patty Diienno, of the Student Life Information Center.

According to Diienno, the summer drive is not as productive as the spring and fall drives because there are fewer students on campus.

“The past summer drive brought in 31 pints. Blood supplies are critically low in the summer, which is why we held the separate drive.”

“The drive especially encourages African-Americans to donate blood for the Sickle Cell Donor Program, because it is a disease that affects many African-American children,” says Diienno.

According to a pamphlet on sickle cell, the best match for an African-American child with sickle cell disease usually comes from an African-American blood donor, and since children with sickle cell disease often need many blood transfusions, it is best for them to receive blood that closely matches their own.

Healthy people who are over the age of 17 and weigh more than 110 pounds are usually eligible to donate blood. According to an information sheet on blood donation, less than 5 percent of Americans who are eligible to donate blood actually do so.

Prior to donating blood, a trained health professional will give donors a brief health check. This means asking questions about your medical history, checking your blood pressure, temperature and pulse, and measuring you blood hemoglobin level, which is a protein in the blood that contains iron.

“Students can sign up to participate in the blood drive in the Student Life Information Center or at the top of the stairs outside the cafeteria in Rollins Center two weeks prior to the drive,” says Diienno. “We hope to have more donors (than previous drives) because right now blood supplies are low and the need for blood is extremely high.”

Students with time between classes can stop by the bloodmobile to make a donation. The process takes about an hour, but the actual blood donation usually takes less than 15 minutes.