The holiday season is a time when many students get into the giving spirit. But for Lane Memorial Blood Bank, an organization that relies on students for much of its supply, it can cause uneasiness.
“December and January, I would say, are some of the toughest times that we face, partly because we depend so heavily on the U of O,” said Kristi McElhinney, community affairs manager at the blood bank.
McElhinney said donations typically lack in the winter months as college and high school students leave campus. During that time, Lane Memorial Blood Bank only receives about 50 to 60 pints per day, she said. But McElhinney estimated the facility needs at least 80 to keep up with demand.
To compensate, staff at the blood bank prepare by aggressively seeking donors and holding blood drives before winter to stock up. A large part of that effort for the past six years has been the Civil War Blood Drive, an annual statewide competition in which donors give on behalf of either the University of Oregon or Oregon State University. The winning school is then recognized at the Civil War football game.
This year, the program reached a new record, collecting a total of 7,230 pints. It also marked the first time the University collected more pints than OSU, winning by a tally of 3,709 to 3,521.
“It was an excellent turnout,” McElhinney said.
But now the hard part begins.
The blood bank will continue to hold blood drives from its “Bloodmobile” RV through the winter, but they’ll become less frequent as the holidays approach, McElhinney said. And other factors beside student populations can affect collections, she added.
“Weather was a big thing last year – we had all these ice storms,” McElhinney said. “People would make appointments, and they couldn’t get out here.”
The icy conditions also made it difficult for the blood bank to reach donors, as the Bloodmobile – which brings in close to 40 percent of the blood bank’s supply from off-site – couldn’t travel to its destinations.
“If the Bloodmobile can’t go out, that puts us down even more,” said Christine Stockdale, community affairs manager at Lane Memorial Blood Bank.
The blood bank also relies on a dedicated, regular donor base. In the halls of the building, dozens of framed portraits hang from the walls. Each one shows a donor who has made at least 100 donations in their lifetime, and Stockdale estimated there are about 175 such donors.
Lane Memorial Blood Bank’s most prolific donor is Eugene resident Eleanor Mulder – known to some as the “donation queen,” McElhinney said – who has donated at least 340 times. Even with its short supply of usable blood, their facility is actually better off than many others across the state, McElhinney said.
“I think it’s just the nature of the community here,” she said of the strong donor base. “We definitely do feel blessed to have some of those long-time donors.”
On Wednesday, Sandy Dixon sat near the donation room of the blood bank, enjoying a sugar cookie after giving blood. The former Eugene Water & Electric Board employee said she’s donated as often as she can – about every six to eight weeks – since retiring.
“I retired about a year and a half ago, and decided this would be a good thing to do,” Dixon said.
Dixon’s blood type is also O positive, which is the second-most acceptable type to patients in need, behind only “universal donor” O negative.
Lane Memorial Blood Bank’s next on-campus blood drive will happen Jan. 9 and 10, in the EMU’s Fir Room. As the only blood bank in Lane County, the staff hopes to build on past successes with the University community, Stockdale said.
“We have a long history with the U of O,” Stockdale said. “It’s been a great relationship.”
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