Organizers are calling the blood drive sponsored by the Fredonia State men's basketball team the most successful in years based on the total numbers of pints donated.
In a letter addressed to the team, Kathy Hastings, mobile drive director for the Community Blood Bank, called the two-day drive, held Sept. 22 and 23 in the Williams Center, "the most successful we have held in the four years we have been coming to campus."
"The reason for the success,'' she wrote, "lies with Coach (Kevin) Moore, Coach (Lester) Harbin, and the team. During the two-day drive we saw 198 donors. Each pint of blood can save up to three lives. With the success of your drive the blood was able to be used 594 ways."
Moore, the Blue Devils' head coach, said approximately 20 players and prospective players worked approximately 50 man-hours over the two days. He said 103 pints were collected on the first day, 95 on the second.
"It's a Fredonia State record," he said. "All the blood goes directly to Brooks Hospital (and) will be enough to supply them for a month."
Players recruited fellow students and staff members beforehand, worked the registration table, donated their own blood, and phoned and text-messaged fellow students to make them aware the blood drive was in progress. At one point, two players stood in the hallway of the Williams Center and encouraged passers-by to donate.
Hastings said the persistence paid off.
"Brooks Hospital in Dunkirk," she wrote to the team, "uses approximately 130-plus pints of blood monthly. You were able to supply Brooks Hospital in two days (when) it normally takes the whole month to supply their needs."
This is the second straight year the team has worked with Community Blood Bank. The Fredonia State men's soccer team has also sponsored a Community Blood Bank drive on campus.
