By Grant Hochmuth
During the early afternoon of Feb. 4 a gathering took place at the Angel College Center, One that has an effect on the lives of the North Country community.
Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital Nurses were in their full attire for their spring campus blood drive, hoping to garner blood donations from students. Hallie Lauber, a phlebotomist from CVPH elaborated on the importance of events like this one.
“We just go out to all of these different places and try to get as many donors as we possibly can,” Lauber said. “We try and make it a big deal, it is very important to donate blood, by donating one unit you can save up to three lives.”
Students and members of the community are able to donate one unit of blood per eight weeks per medical guidelines. Collin MacDonald, a sophomore at SUNY Plattsburgh participated in the blood drive to support his fraternity.
“Personally, I just like the feeling of giving blood. Ya know I am not serving in the military or anything but I can help those people in this way. Blood is a universal thing, everybody has it, so I feel like it’s part of the human connection,” MacDonald said.
It wasn’t just students getting in on the contribution, facility members John Locke and Kelsie Welch also participated.
“I think this brings a lot of resources to the community, it helps people who may need blood for a number of reasons, and getting people together to offer that is wonderful,” Welch said.
Director of the Center for Instruction and Programmatic Innovation, John Locke, found the blood drive as an easy way to help the community.
“It’s an easy way to contribute – We are a community. I think we are responsible for the welfare of everybody around us and this is one of the simplest things we can do to ensure people who experience trauma might be able to survive that trauma,” Locke said.
According to Luber, donating blood in itself is a good way to support your community and help aid your local hospitals, but it’s also a good way to take care of yourself. “It’s good for you as well. It’s like an oil change for your body. That’s what we like to call it here in this department,” Luber said.“It’s taking your blood out of your body, so your body can create new fresh blood..”
If you are looking for more information on how you can help aid CVPH in the blood donations or just more information on blood donations in general walk-ins are welcome at their office at 85 Plaza Blvd, Plattsburgh, NY.
