Earlier this month, the Saginaw campus of Ross Medical Education Center hosted Michigan Blood and their “Blood Bus.” The campus selected Saginaw’s local blood bank to be the direct recipient of their donations. From 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, the Blood Bus was parked outside of the Saginaw campus. Students, faculty, and staff were able to come and donate during their previously committed appointment times within the four hour block. Throughout the time the bus was there, 25 students, staff, and faculty members of the Saginaw campus came out to donate blood.
Medical Assistant Instructor, Julie McIntosh, helped facilitate the students and staff as they got ready to donate, “I enjoy this. I like seeing the students wanting to give back. It says a lot about Ross students. They’re a wonderful group.” The campus as a whole was excited about the great opportunity they had to be able to donate blood to those in their community that need it. “This truly is a good cause to give to, since anyone could find themselves needing blood at any given moment. We are honored that the local blood bank asks us to host their bus twice a year,” said Ginger Rezmer, Assistant Campus Director of Education at Ross.
The campus especially loved working with Michigan Blood because it is an independent organization that serves local banks within the state of Michigan only. Their priority is to support Michigan hospitals and patients needing blood. Due to this, they are very focused on ensuring that the supply is there when Michigan residents need it. In addition to supporting local banks, they also provide “a nationally recognized stem cell (marrow) program, therapeutic apheresis, DNA tissue-typing, transfusion medicine consultations, and Michigan’s first public cord blood bank.” (http://www.miblood.org/about-michigan-blood/)
If you would like to find a blood drive with Michigan Blood, search for one near you here. If you would like more information on what you can do to help, email info@miblood.org or call 1-866-MIBLOOD.