EIGHTH-ANNUAL CAA BLOOD CHALLENGE GETS UNDERWAY THIS WEEK
Courtesy: Hofstra Athletic Communications
Release: 10/12/2009
Courtesy: Hofstra Athletic Communications
Richmond, VA - The CAA Blood Drive will take place on Tuesday, October 13th from 8:30am to 9:45pm in the Plaza Room of Hofstra's Sondra and David S. Mack Student Center. The drive will be coordinated by the New York Blood Center, which is one of the nation's largest non-profit, community-based blood centers. To register to donate blood, please contact Annie Fiorvanti at 516-463-6749 or through email at Ann.Fiorvanti@hofstra.edu. If you are unable to donate on the 13th, please visit http://www.nybloodcenter.org to schedule an appointment at a local donor center. At the time of your appointment, provide the Hofstra code (12348), in order to assist with our CAA Blood Challenge total.
This year marks the eighth annual Colonial Athletic Association Blood Challenge. The 2008 event resulted in 3,472 actual donors and 3,632 productive units of blood from the 12 CAA campuses, which represented a three percent increase over the 2007 totals and more than three times the amount collected during the inaugural blood challenge in 2002. Over the past seven years, the CAA Blood Challenge has raised a total of 17,728 units of blood, which has helped to save 53,184 lives.
“The success of the CAA Blood Challenge is a source of pride for the conference and its member institutions,” CAA Commissioner Tom Yeager said. “To have collected over 17,000 units of blood during the past seven years is an incredible accomplishment. The event grows each year and we have been overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and participation on each of our campuses. I applaud the institutions for undertaking this life-saving project.”
Each CAA institution designates one day during the Fall to conduct a campus-wide blood drive. With the assistance of local blood service centers, a count is kept of all people who donate blood on that day. Based on those numbers, the CAA determines a winner and presents a trophy to that institution.
Drexel University has been the winner of the CAA Blood Challenge for the past three years. Drexel had 826 actual donors in 2008, which resulted in 822 productive units of blood collected. All 12 CAA institutions had at least 85 donors participate in the program and six collected more than 250 units of blood. Along with Drexel, four-time Blood Challenge champion Delaware had 604 donors, Georgia State had 367 donors and VCU had 355 donors.
The CAA Blood Challenge was developed in 2002 by the league presidents as a fun way to emphasize the critical importance of donating blood. Each institution promotes the event on campus and encourages student groups, faculty, staff and alumni to participate and support their school.
The blood drive dates on each CAA campus are as follows:
September 8, 2009 College of William and Mary September 22, 2009 Georgia State University September 23, 2009 Virginia Commonwealth University September 24, 2009 UNC Wilmington October 13, 2009 Hofstra University October 23, 2009 James Madison University October 29, 2009 Drexel University November 2, 2009 George Mason University November 2, 2009 Northeastern University November 9, 2009 Towson University November 18, 2009 Old Dominion University November 18, 2009 University of Delaware
Courtesy: Hofstra Athletic Communications
