Heartland Blood Centers will be holding a blood drive sponsored by the Division of Student Affairs July 25 at the NIU Student Recreation Center and July 26 at the Holmes Student Center.

The blood drive is from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. both days, and the entire procedure takes between 30 and 40 minutes.

All blood types are needed, but there is a particular need for type O, the universal donor, and type B, said Kris Stutzman, DeKalb County representative for Heartland Blood Centers.

“There are increased blood shortages in summer,” Stutzman said. “We rely on schools and companies to give blood. In the summer, schools are closed and workers are often on vacation. Some factories are shut down.”

Although it is vacation time, the need for blood continues, Stutzman said. The two groups requiring the greatest percentage of donated blood are cancer and leukemia patients and people facing major surgery. The need for blood never stops for these two groups of people, Stutzman said, and some patients are forced to postpone necessary surgery until the blood supply is replenished.

Heartland is the third largest blood bank in Northern Illinois, supplying 26 area hospitals. To meet the demand, Heartland must draw 275 pints of blood a day six days a week—a total of 1,650 pints weekly. “When we don’t, shortages occur,” Stutzman said. “It’s a tenuous situation. Today we’re OK, but tomorrow, who knows?”

NIU is Heartland’s largest donor, Stutzman said, hosting 35 blood drives a year that provide the bank with 4,000 pints of blood. However, only two or at most three blood drives are held in the summer because of lack of students during the season, netting less than 300 pints of blood. “Northern has been good to us,” Stutzman said, adding the bank needs all the help it can get in the summer.

Stutzman said donors have nothing to fear when giving blood. She assures donors they cannot be exposed to AIDS or any other disease while donating blood. Only new, sterile needles are used for each donor. The needles are immediately disposed of when the procedure is finished.

Stutzman asks interested donors to call the Health Center at 753-1311 to make appointments to donate blood. If donors want to walk in and avoid lines, between 10 a.m. and noon is the best time, Stutzman said.

Some donors fear fainting while giving blood, Stutzman said. Donors can reduce the chance of fainting by getting a good night’s sleep and eating a normal meal within four hours of donating.

Above all, Stutzman urges donors to relax and think of the good they are doing while donating blood. “People donate blood to help the community and to make themselves feel good. Donors come away with a good feeling that they’ve helped themselves and somebody else,” Stutzman said.

It’s a tenuous situation. Today we’re OK, but tomorrow, who knows?”

Kris Stutzman, Heartland Blood Centers representative