30th Annual Carolina Clemson Blood Drive

Rivalry Week is finally here and we are so proud to announce that Tri Delta was the largest Greek sponsor at this year's 30th Annual Carolina Clemson Blood Drive. One of our very own, Mary McGuinness, has been involved with the blood drive for three years now and wanted to tell us a little bit about her personal experiences with the drive and what it has meant to her in her years here at Carolina. 

"Hey Y’all!

I can’t believe that it’s already this time of year again… Happy Rivalry Week! Although the big on field rivalry kicks of this week, here at USC we just finished wrapping up our off field rivalry verses Clemson, with the 30^th Annual Carolina Clemson Blood Battle, which was held on both campuses last week.

As a senior here in the College of Nursing, the Carolina Clemson Blood Drive is something that I have really enjoyed being a part of for the past three years. This year, I was blessed with the opportunity to co-chair the 2014 drive. The Carolina Clemson Blood Battle is one of the largest collegiate blood drives that has taken place the week before Thanksgiving for the past 30 years, at the start of the holiday season when donations typically begin to decrease. Rivalry aside, I chose to get involved in the Blood Drive because of the impact this drive can make on the lives of others. One fact unknown to most is that only a mere 8 percent of our population donates blood, which is one reason why this drive is so important. Each donation has the potential to save up to three lives. Since the competition began, together, our universities have successfully collected roughly 100,000 pints of blood, helping save the lives of approximately 300,000 patients, which is no small task!

  

During the weeklong drive, student volunteers disperse around campus, despite the rain and cold, encouraging all students, faculty, staff, alumni and fans to show support for their favorite team by giving blood. Each year at the close of the drive on Friday night, the visiting school calls the hosting school to report their numbers for the week. For the past six years, Carolina has taken the win, and held a 15-14 lead over Clemson. In years past, the winner has always been decided by number of pints collected, regardless of university size. This year, however, the terms changed, and undergraduate student body size became a factor in determining the winner of the drive, which was determined by the percentage of donors in relation to the number of undergraduates at each university. Here at USC, the undergraduate enrollment number used was 24,180 students, while Clemson’s undergraduate enrollment was 16,931. Needless to say, us Carolina fans had our work cut out for us if we wanted to take the win for the seventh consecutive year!

Despite the changes, Carolina fans came out strong, with 4,103 donors, or 16.9% of our undergraduate student population, pulling off the win over Clemson’s 2,793 donors, which is 16.5% of their undergraduate population! As part of the tradition, the Blood Drive Trophy will be awarded to USC at the game next weekend, in Clemson.

Seeing this drive through from the early planning stages back in January to the call on Friday night was truly one of the most rewarding experiences of my life, and I grateful that I was able to get involved in such a great cause. This year’s drive couldn’t have been as successful as it was without the support of our sponsors (including Tri Delta!), committee volunteers, which included nine Tri Deltas, or the 4,103 donors, 61 of whom are Tri Deltas, who rolled up a sleeve to donate life! I am hopeful that South Carolina will never have to be fearful of a blood shortage during the holiday season because of this drive.

On behalf of my co-chair, Kaitlyn Dunphy, and I, we would like to thank everyone who contributed in any way to this years drive! With this victory aside, its now time for the Football team to take the win on the field, Go Gamecocks – Beat Clemson!

-Mary McGuinness"