St. Pat’s Blood Drive
As we kick off the spring semester, it is always encouraging to see students partake in philanthropy events and work together to make a difference in the surrounding community. One of the campus organizations that is working to spread a positive influence in our community is the St. Pat’s Board. They made an impact last week by hosting their annual St. Pat’s Blood Drive.
Many people naturally think of snake pits, sweatshirts, or the color Kelly green when thinking of the St. Pat’s Board; however, it is important to note that this fun group of Missouri S&T students is another organization of many that is taking a break from classes to spread positivity and pay it forward. Starting on Tuesday, January 28th, of last week and continuing into Friday, January 31st, the St. Pat’s Board occupied the St. Pat’s Ballroom A of the Havener Center to host the event. Each day these students dedicated a substantial amount of time to their cause; they opened the drive at eleven in the morning and kept it running until five in the evening. Like in previous years, the event did a great job of bringing many students together. Many organizations strived to have a certain percentage of their members donate to the drive, and those who were unable to donate could always help out by handing out flyers to spread the word to other possible donors.
I reached out to one of the St. Pat’s Representatives, Adam McTigue, to inquire about the success of the drive. He informed me that normally the drive brings in around eighty people each day to donate blood. There were over sixty people who were unable to donate but still managed to participate in the drive by helping with the canteen and flyer pass outs. When I asked him what the significance of the Pat’s Blood Drive meant to the Pat’s Board, Adam responded, “This event is very important as it betters the community with the blood and can food drive. It is always extra fun to have a little competition between each organization to have a great turn out for the event.” He mentioned this year’s drive has been extremely successful. On just the first day, the St. Pat’s Board was able to meet their goal of donors. The success quickly continued throughout the rest of the week.
When asked what his favorite aspect of this event is, representative McTigue replied, “I love seeing how the entire campus, participating organizations, and students in general come together to help our community. It is amazing to see all the people walk in to donate their blood, hoping their bag of blood is going to help save someone’s life.”
While this event is clearly outstanding on its own, the St. Pat’s Board also plans on incorporating the Be the Match bone marrow registry into their blood drive efforts in the future. Be the Match is an impressive organization that is working to create a registry for potential bone marrow donors in an effort to provide a cure for people who are struggling with blood cancers. For anyone who was not able to donate blood or would like to register, the St. Pat’s Board plans on having sign-in events for Be the Match in the future, or individuals can sign up at any time by emailing amm825@mst.edu.
