MICHELLE HOFFMAN / Scroll
Shaun Partrige, a Red Cross volunteer, talks to Erica Reese, a senior from Salt Lake City, Utah, as he selects a vein to draw blood from.

Student volunteers both give and take blood

Jocelyn Sparks SPA05004@BYUI.EDU Scroll Staff

Students looking to get involved in service had a chance to volunteer their time, and blood, to the Red Cross Wednesday, Sept. 14 through Friday, Sept. 16.

At an organizational meeting Sept. 7, several BYU-Idaho students seized the opportunity to sign up to donate both time and blood to the Red Cross from noon to 6 p.m. each day.

At the meeting, Gloria Layton, blood drive coordinator and a sophomore from Grassy Lake, Alberta, stressed the importance of service.

“As we become filled with gratitude, it overflows into service,” she said, quoting Elder Derek A. Cuthbert of the Quorum of the Seventy. The students were excited to get involved and signed up to fill many of the open positions.

Students had the opportunity to serve in several positions at the drive. Greeters were needed to welcome donors and give them general information to read.

Hosts were needed to escort donors from donation stations to the refreshment table. Refreshment aids made sure donators had enough to eat and drink.

Besides volunteering time, students also have an opportunity to donate blood.

Because there were so many students willing to donate blood, not everyone had a chance. Several students willing to donate were turned away because of lack of space.

The students had many different reasons for wanting to serve. Thomas Stanfill, a freshman from Temecula, Calif., said that he donated blood simply “because it saves lives.”

 Renee Yeager, a freshman nursing student from Scott City, Kan., had a grandmother who needed a blood transfusion following surgery, and said she knows that someday she may need blood also.

 Blake Roberts, a freshman from Mesa, Ariz., who served in the Florida Tallahassee Mission, said that while he was able to help out in one major hurricane in the area, he has since felt helpless to do anything in the two more recent hurricanes.

“I realize that my blood might not end up there,” he said. “[But] it’s helping out somehow; it’s helping out someone.”

 Volunteering is a really great way to serve the Lord, Layton said.

“I think being involved in service is the most spiritually strengthening [activity] for me,” she said. 

Layton said one of the most rewarding things for her was talking to people and trying to get them to donate.

Their responses were enthusiastic, and she loved seeing the compassion they felt for people when they talked about donating. “I feel really, really lucky,” she said.

Heather Hansen, a junior from Idaho Falls, said she feels that service is very important. She also thinks that donating blood is a great way to serve.

“There is definitely a need for it,” she said. “Heavenly Father wants us to help.”