Multiple blood drives have been held at NIU recently, but only a small amount of students are showing up to donate.

With blood banks being dangerously low due to cold weather and lack of awareness, the Heartland Blood Center is in need of blood donors. Camille Piazza, marketing coordinator for the Heartland Blood Center, advises students to donate.

“We’re trying to get students to donate blood because we are in a desperate need of it,” Piazza said. “Students need to be reminded that blood donating is a good thing to do and good things come out from it.”

Piazza goes to the NIU website and Heartland Blood Center’s website to get the word out about the blood drives, but still has a hard time getting donors.

“It seems like these students don’t know about these drives, and I’m trying my best to get the word out,” Piazza said.

Piazza talked to organizations at NIU, such as Black Male Initiative and Women’s Studies, about hosting blood drives in January and early February. Piazza said only 46 donors turned out during the drives.

“I’ve talked to NIU organization leaders, and I believe that’s our best bet,” Piazza said. “We need more dedicated people to spread the word and remind them why donating blood is a good thing to do.”

Piazza has also talked to NIU’s Health Services to see if it can hold a blood drive.

Nyisha Richardson, team leader for the Heartland Blood Center, said the weather was to blame for the lack of blood donations during a Monday blood drive.

“It’s the weather,” Richardson said. “Students are told to stay in and that’s what they do.

“The lack of spreading the word isn’t just the problem, but the weather, too.”

Aaron Towle, freshmen computer science major, said he would donate and bring his friends to the blood drives.

“I simply didn’t know that blood drives are going on here,” Towle said. “I’d donate, but other people just don’t know where they’re held at.”

Future dates and locations may be found on the Heartland Blood Center’s official site, www.heartlandbc.org, and the NIU website’s events page, calendar.niu.edu/calendar.