Northwest Missouri State University’s Student Senate will sponsor its annual winter blood drive Feb. 20-21 in collaboration with the Community Blood Center.

Northwest students, employees and community members are invited to donate blood between 11 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. both days in the Tower View Dining Room on the third floor of the J.W. Jones Student Union. Interested donors should use the group code CZ to reserve an appointment at savealifenow.org/group.

“We are still experiencing a blood shortage across the nation,” Callie Spunaugle, a junior agricultural business major from Warsaw, Missouri, who serves as a Student Senate civic service chair. “It is important to donate blood because it can help patients of all ages and injuries. There is no substitute for blood. It is needed for all sorts of medical emergencies, and you can help save lives by donating.”

The Community Blood Center is the primary supplier of blood and blood components in the region, serving more than 65 local hospitals and medical centers. Student Senate annually sponsors fall, winter and spring blood drives in cooperation with the Community Blood Center to boost blood supplies in northwest Missouri.

Blood from volunteer donors assists cancer patients recovering from the rigors of chemotherapy, vehicle crash victims needing blood for emergency surgeries and mothers needing blood as the result of traumatic birth deliveries. It is estimated three lives are saved with every unit collected.

Northwest has sponsored blood drives for more than 45 years and has a reputation for its outstanding commitment to supporting blood donation in the region. Student Senate’s fall blood drive collected 119 units of blood, and the organization’s collection goal for its blood drive is 50 donations per day. 

Student Senate also sponsors a spring blood drive, which is scheduled for April 23.

For more information, contact Spunaugle at sencivc@vinoselecion.com or 660.562.1218.