As the Heartland Blood Center’s representative to DeKalb County, and specifically Northern Illinois University, I would like to commend everyone who has been involved in the campus blood program. This includes the generous donors and the volunteers who made the blood drives possible.

In four years, the number of blood donations at NIU has doubled. The total for the previous school year was 4,024. This semester there has been more than 2,000 donations. As a graduate of Northern, I take great pride in the fact that the blood program here rivals that of U of I, which recently was honored by the American Association of Blood Banks for an outstanding percentage of donors on campus.

Greatest thanks go to the NIU Blood Drive Commission, the members of which are dedicated students and staff who are the main lifeline to all campus groups. Also, thanks to all organizations, offices and residence halls who did the recruiting of donors. This is the toughest job of all. Considering only about 5 percent of the population of the United States donates blood, either because of lack of knowledge, unfounded fears or simply because they haven’t been asked, these donor recruiters really did their job!

About 1,000 of the donors at NIU this fall were first timers. We hope they will be back in the spring, and make donating blood a lifelong habit.

More information about donating blood can be found in Founders Memorial Library, or call Heartland Blood Centers in Aurora. Schedules for campus drives are available at the Health Enhancement Desk in the Holmes Student Center.

The need for blood donors will continue to increase because of great advances in medical technology in the areas of cancer, leukemia, and the ability of surgery to lengthen quality life for many people.

Kris Stutzman

Area representative