People waiting for hours in line at Friday's blood drive helped the Student Government Association surpass its goal.
The six-hour drive at Irving Gym raised 87 pints of blood for Ball Memorial Hospital Blood Bank, donor services coordinator Sharon Rhodes said.
SGA's goal was 75 pints, blood drive committee chairwoman Jessica Polley said.
Polley and Rhodes said the turnout surprised them. Rhodes said 116 people registered to donate but 29 were turned away for health reasons.
Donors said after hearing the blood bank was in a shortage, they wanted to help.
"We had so many people we had to pull out chairs," Polley said. "People were standing. A whole group was sitting on the floor, because we didn't have enough seats."
Many donors, such as sophomore Tamara Sipes, waited in line for one to two hours.
Rhodes said the blood bank will schedule more technicians next time.
Sipes said after hearing the blood bank needed her 0-blood type, she was able to tough out her two-hour wait.
Ball Memorial Blood Bank Manager Barbara Waters said on Thursday the hospital had almost run dry of 0-negative blood and were seeking past donors.
Rhodes said all the donors waiting in line were patient.
"They brought their books and had things to study. They passed the time and were patient about it," Rhodes said.
Senior Jen Marx said she didn't expect to wait for an hour and a half, but she was glad the blood bank received donations during a shortage.
"I had a lot of stuff I was going to do today, but I didn't think it'd take this long," Marx said. "I guess it's a good thing that they have this many people. I've waited longer at the Bursar's Office."
Senator Stephanie Brown said some people left before donating because of class. Rhodes said she received phone numbers from people who said they'd donate at the blood bank later.
SGA ended the drive an hour early to handle the donors in line, Polley said. Polley said the drive was successful because of SGA's contacts with other organizations.
"SGA is plugged into a lot of organizations," Polley said. "I'm proud of the senators for talking this up."
President Ben Tietz said SGA will host another drive in the fall. The ROTC program will host this year's final blood drive April 27th at the cadet lab in Ball Gym, Rhodes said.
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