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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at BC chapter.

 

On Monday, The American Red Cross of Boston College (ARC-BC) held a blood drive in light of the Boston Marathon Bombings.  To say BC students stepped up would be an understatement.  They really exemplified “Men and Women for Others”.  Lines out of the door, an hour wait just to donate.  But that didn’t discourage any of the donors.  People of all different ages, those who ran in the marathon, those who cheered them on, and those there simply just to help all gathered in the Walsh Function Room today.  Myself, being from munchkinland, was not able to donate, but I interviewed a few donors about why they were donating.

Russell Smith, a law student here at BC, says he always donates but being that he actually ran in the marathon on Monday, today he wanted to give back and donated blood for all those who were injured.  I also spoke with three sophomores as well and asked them why they were donating.  Laura Huggard said that after the attack she wanted to give back to people who needed help in any way that she could. Nicaela Chinnaswamy, who also ran in the marathon on Monday, said that she’s been donating blood every since her brother was in a bike accident and needed blood.  Gillian Walsh said she donated to help out and also added, “I’m here for the free t-shirt too”.

When I asked if she had any advice for those who wanted to donate but were nervous, nurse Jan Sinclair replied, “Just talk about being nervous.  Pretty much everyone is nervous even people who donate all the time.  And if everyone who was nervous didn’t donate, we wouldn’t have anyone”.

The nurses assisting at the blood drive said that there were over 130 appointments Monday, bringing in over 80 pints of blood to help those injured during the Boston Marathon bombings.  I was told there have been about four times as many people as normal donating blood since Monday’s events.  A status I saw on Facebook that put it perfectly: “When Gotham City needs a hero they turn to Batman. When Boston needs a hero, they turn to each other”.  For whatever their motives were for donating blood, I’d like to thank all those who donated today.  You did a great thing.

Don’t Miss the Next Opportunity to Donate!!  All blood types are needed, but especially Type O.

Wednesday 4/24 (11:00 a.m.-5: 00 p.m.) in the Walsh Function Room

Free t-shirt & pizza for all presenting donors.

To sign up: Follow the links on MyBC for donation or volunteer appointment.

·      https://orgsync.com/42671/events

·      You can also go directly to http://www.redcrossblood.org/make-donation and enter the sponsor code 943 or call 1-800-RED CROSS

Questions? Contact the BC-ARC at arc.bostoncollege@gmail.com

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Katherine ValentinoSenior in A&S English Major Minor in American Studies, concentration in journalism 
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Caitlin is currently a student at Boston College studying English and Pre-Law.  At BC, she is a member of the Boston College Irish Dance Club, on the Honors Program Student Executive Board's Community Service Committee, and interns and writes for the fashion and culture blog Rusted Revolution.  She has been wriring for Her Campus BC since Jaunary 2011 and is serving as BC's Campus Correspondent for the 2012-2013 school year.  Outside of school, she is a competitive Irish dancer, and has been dancing for 18 years. During her high school career, she completed an engineering project at Case Western Reserve University that made her one of 40 Intel Science Talent Search Finalists in 2009.   In addition to all of this, Caitlin loves reading, yoga, running, shopping, spending time with friends and family, and traveling.