The spring Blood Drive at LMU, organized by the Pam Rector Center for Service and Action (CSA) in collaboration with the Crimson Circle Service Organization, successfully extended its duration to three days, from Feb. 18-20 and broke a record for collections since 2020. In partnership with UCLA Health, the drive collected a total of 263 pints of blood, with more than 390 participants sign up to donate and 329 participants attempting to donate.
Blood donations are a critical need for patients experiencing cancer or other life-threatening medical conditions and donors play a huge role for patients who have special transfusion needs. Bi-annual blood drives have been a longstanding tradition for Crimson Circle as co-host with CSA and in the past several years, post-COVID-19, have been two-day drives, but with increased interest the drive was expanded to three days to try to gain as many lifesaving donations as possible.
Yadira Napior, assistant director for student engagement in CSA, said, “We had two consecutive blood drives last year where we surpassed our goal numbers, so it felt like the right time to expand to a three-day drive this spring. Adding an additional day also increased the opportunities for members of the LMU community to find an appointment time that worked for them. It also increased our visibility on campus which resulted in more walk-in appointments on the second and third days, which was also new during this spring’s blood drive.”
John Kassabian ’26, an environmental studies double major and business administration minor, has been president of the Crimson Circle service organization since last year. “One of my biggest goals as president of Crimson Circle this year was to get people to realize they are making a big impact off campus,” said Kassabian. “It’s not just about the free giveaways, it really is about one of those lifesaving acts that you might not see the end result of, but just you being there is a big sort of sign that you care, and you’re showing up for the Los Angeles community.”
For Crimson Circle, their organization’s service focus is on communities that are in the most need and hosting the blood drive is one way they can give back to the local community. Since COVID-19, the nation has been experiencing a blood shortage because blood drives had to be shut down and many longtime regular donors were staying home to avoid the virus. UCLA Health worked directly with Crimson Circle this year to help change that by expanding LMU’s blood drive to include a third day, something the university has not done since before 2020. “People aren’t getting back into the donation centers as quickly and as frequently,” said Kassabian. “So, hosting a blood drive is a really needed way that college campuses can bring people together to support and foster community, which is a big focus for Crimson.”
The Crimson Circle team is also looking to expand the types of donations available on campus in the future. They worked with UCLA Health to try to bring platelet donations to campus this year but were unable to and instead have been connecting with students interested to donate directly at UCLA Health. Because platelet donation is a longer process, the Crimson Circle team has been bringing students who are interested and eligible to donate at UCLA Health, with the latest group of students going to donate on Jan. 20, during the MLK holiday. Crimson Circle also has a group chat dedicated to other LMU students who have qualified to donate platelets and the service organization helps arrange carpooling to UCLA Health for them to donate, which allows more students to donate as they become eligible.
For Kassabian, some of the things he is most proud of during his time at LMU has been becoming the president of Crimson Circle. “I’m really proud to lead Crimson Circle and to see the faces that will make it up for the next four years,” said Kassabian. “Being part of the future of something that dates back like 95 years, is really rewarding and exciting.”
He added, “My time so far at LMU has been empowering me to be more confident, in every aspect, like, educationally, socially. Just like as a person professionally. But I really feel like I’ve grown too. As a tour guide on campus, we talk about the mission and being people for and with others. I loved the idea of that even before I set foot on this campus, but now I feel like I know what it means to really live that out and I truly understand what it means.”
