The Community Blood Bank will host a blood drive in Gannon University’s Hammermill Center lobby from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday.
This drive not only offers a chance to save lives, but also the possibility to win tickets to a Pittsburgh Penguins hockey game.
Everyone who donates on this day will be entered to win a pair of tickets to see the Penguins play the New Jersey Devils on Saturday, Oct. 22, at the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh. The odds of winning are great because this promotion is for Erie County donors only, according to Brittany Yost, community outreach and program coordinator for the Community Blood Bank.
The first 100 donors will also receive a “I bleed Maroon and Gold” wristband as a thank you from the Community Blood Bank.
All donations collected at this event will stay in Erie County to help save the lives of local patients. The Community Blood Bank is the only supplier of blood to hospitals in Erie County, and it also supplies for 14 other hospitals in northwest Pennsylvania and western New York.
Gannon holds blood drives with the Community Blood Bank every semester.
In the past, the university has set records for the largest blood drives in the bank’s 10 county service regions.
“High school and college blood drives make up about 23 percent of the Community Blood Bank’s annual collections,” Yost said.
“This summer was particularly hard on the local blood supply, so we are very excited to return to Gannon.”
Gannon students are excited about this upcoming event as well.
“It’s nice to know that I may be saving a stranger’s life by doing something so small,” Jacqueline Forness, a sophomore criminal justice major said.
Casey Rogers, a senior pre-med major and dedicated Penguins fan, said he didn’t have to think twice when asked about donating.
“It only makes sense,” he said. “Penguins tickets are so expensive.
“Why not do something to possibly win tickets while at the same time help my community?”
For more information about the blood drive, please visit www.ourdonorssavelives.org.
