UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE HOSTS THE BIGGEST ONE-DAY BLOOD DRIVE OF THE YEAR
PICTURED: University of Delaware Football Coach K.C. Keeler donating at the 2007 CAA Blood Challenge.
CAA Blood Challenge Slideshow
Newark, DE - After recruiting hundreds of blood donors to give blood in the Blood Bank's biggest one-day blood drive of the year, the University of Delaware hopes it was enough to earn their fifth win in the 7th annual CAA Blood Challenge. UD held the all-day blood drive in the Trabant University Center's multipurpose rooms at 17 West Main Street in Newark on November 12.
The Challenge, which pits the University of Delaware against eleven other schools in the Colonial Athletic Association, requires each college or university to designate one day during the fall to conduct a campus-wide blood drive. The school with the most blood donations wins. UD's final numbers will not be released until all the colleges hold their drives. Last year, UD brought in 678 blood donations.
"This competition is fun, but beyond that... it's inspiring. For more than 12 hours, hundreds of students come in from all over campus and line up to save lives," said Bob Travis, Blood Bank President and CEO. "We are ready to help UD take back first place in the Challenge, and we'll be closing all of our donor centers on Delmarva that day and sending most of our staff to work at the event."
The competition was initiated in 2002 by former UD President, Dr. David Roselle. UD won the first four years of the Challenge but was narrowly defeated by Drexel University for the last two.
The other competing schools include: College of William and Mary; Virginia Commonwealth University; UNC Wilmington; Georgia State University; James Madison University; Old Dominion University; Hofstra University; Drexel University; George Mason University; Towson University; and Northeastern University.
Over the past six years, a total of 14,096 units of blood have been donated at the CAA Blood Challenge, which has helped to save 42,288 lives.
