Clemson-Carolina Rivalry Week kicked off this Monday with the 31st annual Carolina Clemson Blood Drive as well as the CarolinaCan Food Drive. Both of these events give students the opportunity to not only give back to the community, but to beat Clemson.
The Carolina-Clemson Blood Drive, going on from Nov. 16 to 20 at various locations around campus, encourages students to donate blood through the Red Cross. In the past the Carolina Greek Programming Board organized it, but it is now transforming into a student organization.
“It used to be solely under sorority and fraternity life and now it has opened up to a broader range of people to come out and volunteer,” Blood Drive President and fourth-year finance student Nina Johnnie said.
This in-state rivalry is the largest collegiate blood drive in the country. South Carolina has won every year since 2008 making 16 total wins compared to Clemson’s 14. The Red Cross is hoping to see 4,000 donors this year at USC alone.
“We think we are on track to win, but the most important thing is just to collect as many units of blood and having as many people coming out to donate as we did last year, even if it’s not necessarily a win,” Johnnie said.
The Carolina-Clemson Blood Drive in association with the Red Cross also aims to educate students on the importance of donating blood.
“High school and college students comprise up to 20 percent of our donor base, which means students play a big role in making sure blood is available when patients need it,” SC Red Cross Communications Manager Krystal Overmyer said. “The Carolina-Clemson drive comes at an important time for the Red Cross, too. Blood donations tend to decline around the holidays starting at Thanksgiving, so this week's drive helps put the Red Cross in a stronger position as we start this critical period.”
Students who have donated in the past know the process can take up to an hour or more, but this year students have the option to speed up their donation time using RapidPass. This new technology allows donors to complete a portion of their health history questionnaire online at a home or work computer, potentially cutting up to 15 minutes from the total donation time. There is a laptop room set up in the Russell House specifically so that donors can take advantage of RapidPass.
“I just remember hearing about it last year when I toured here. The blood drive is a huge deal; we want to win obviously, we want to beat Clemson in everything, and I was like, ‘You know what? I’m not even scared of needles so I’ll just go’ and I got my friend to come with me to do it,” first-year marketing student Haley Mitchell said.
This week and next, students can also participate in CarolinaCan, which aims to collect canned goods and donations for the Harvest Hope Food Bank in Columbia, Florence and Greenville. This food drive not only serves as a fundraiser, but also serves as a way of calling attention to the poverty issues in the state, where 23 percent of children live below the poverty level and one in six people struggle with hunger. Donations will be accepted until Nov. 23 at multiple locations across campus.