UCLA has been challenged by USC to see who can donate the most blood by the end of the spring quarter.
The UCLA Blood and Platelet Center received the challenge via letter from USC’s Blood Donor Center, pitting its students against UCLA’s in a friendly rivalry to “get the red out,” according to the letter.
The challenge winner will not be based on the units of blood given but the percentage of participation of members of the university, said Faye Cortez, community liaison for the UCLA Blood and Platelet Center.
Organizations on campus can contact the center if they are interested in running their own blood drive and can challenge its USC counterpart to a competition as well, Cortez said.
USC reported that they receive an average of 2,000 units of blood each semester, but also said that they were going to pull out all the stops this semester, according to the letter.
All of the blood donated at USC is given to USC and Norris Cancer Hospital patients.
The rivalry is firing up on UCLA’s side as the UCLA Blood and Platelet Center begins stepping up to the challenge.
Students can donate at a number of places on campus, including residences halls, bloodmobiles and Ackerman Union. Students are also welcome to donate at the donor center, which is located on Gayley Avenue between Kinross and Weyburn Avenues.
Students who are weary of donating blood should not worry; the experience is not bad at all, said second-year computer science student Ryan Gochee. Gochee donated blood for the first time last year at a blood drive on campus.
“I always wanted to donate, but I was scared,” Gochee said. He said he had a good experience and would recommend it to others. He added that he was pushed a little harder to do it when there were incentives for the residence hall floor that donated the most blood.
“We hope (the challenge) will be fun and motivate students to participate in something really positive, which is donating for our patients,” said Linda Goss, recruitment supervisor for the UCLA Blood and Platelet Center.
All blood donated at UCLA donor centers is given to patients at the UCLA Medical Center as well as the Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center, Goss said.
The donor center will be on campus again on Tuesday, Jan. 20. Students can come to the Covel Commons Grand Horizon Room between 2 to 7 p.m. to donate. They will also be on campus the following day, during the same hours, at the Rieber Fireside Lounge.
Also, the UCLA Blood and Platelet Center is opening a new Ackerman Union branch in June where students, faculty and staff can donate beginning in March, Cortez said.