Chewing a cookie, freshman Darren DeBruhl said he saved someone's life in six minutes.
Though he will never know that person's name, DeBruhl said he knows his blood will help someone who needs it. The Black Student Association's blood drive, part of Unity Week, Friday marked DeBruhl's eighth time donating.
"It's just a small part of me to give to help someone else," DeBruhl said.
Donor services coordinator Sharon Rhodes couldn't agree more. Rhodes said the Ball Memorial Blood Bank has faced difficulty in meeting the cancer center's demands for blood since it opened Dec. 15.
"We're a small, independent blood bank," Rhodes said. "We're usually scrambling for 50 pints."
Hospital staff collected 20 pints of blood in two hours at the Student Center. The BSA's goal was to have 20 to 30 donors, chairwoman of the blood drive committee Lanette Sims said.
Senior Rae Rawlins was one of those 20. She was studying at the Student Center when someone mentioned the blood drive upstairs.
"I like the idea of being able to save a life, maybe three," Rawlins said.
The highest demand for blood usually occurs during Ball State's breaks, Rhodes said, because 18,000 possible donors go home.
"When you people are out on break, we miss you," Rhodes said.
Rhodes said the hospital tries to anticipate donation demands, but that's difficult with accidents and chemotherapy, which destroys platelets.
Sims said the blood drive benefited the community, even if it strayed from the original plan. The BSA had considered pairing a health fair with the event to end Unity Week, Sims said, but unreturned phone calls and bad weather interfered.
"It worked out better this way," Sims said. "This will help the community. We're still giving back."
Rhodes said she hopes more student groups will host blood drives in the future.
"We really appreciate and feel lucky to have BSU across the street," Rhodes said. "It's such a healthy donor place."
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