Fight For Life Score:

PSU - 1010        OSU - 879

This April, Penn State continues to bleed blue to beat the Buckeyes during the second annual Fight for Life competition against Ohio State. Both universities are among the top college blood collection programs in the country. During the Fight for Life, each university will attempt to collect the most blood donations.

Last week, Penn State collected 108 units of blood, while Ohio State collected 357. Because of the timing of Ohio State's spring break, the Buckeyes started their blood drives a week ahead of Penn State. Both schools will attempt to collect 1, 230 units of blood through April 27th.

"We encourage anyone that is eligible to donate to come out to these drives, not only to help beat OSU but to help save lives," said Student Red Cross Club president Christine Theberge.

The current score for the Fight for Life can be found on scoreboards located in the residence halls, the HUB, and the library. In addition, the score can be found on this website and the Student Red Cross Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Donors at this week's blood drives will enjoy Jersey Mike's subs at the canteen as well as coupons from McLanahan's, Appalachian Outdoors and Got Used Bookstore. Donors will also be eligible to win an iPad through Penn State's frequent donor program.

This year's Fight for Life is sponsored by the Penn State Federal Credit Union. Upcoming blood drives can be found here.

PSU-OSU Fight for Life

(UNIVERSITY PARK, P.A.) - This April, the Penn State Student Red Cross Club will challenge the Penn State community to donate blood for the second annual Fight for Life. Penn State and Ohio State will compete in a friendly battle to collect the most blood donations from April 2 through April 27. The winner will claim bragging rights at the best collegiate donation program in the Big 10, possibly in the country.

"We're really excited to compete in the Fight for Life for the second year in a row," said Student Red Cross Club President Christine Theberge. "We encourage anyone that is eligible to donate at one these drives, not only to help beat OSU but to help save lives. As much as we like to have bragging rights, at the end of the day we're concerned with making sure there's enough blood for people who need it."

Theberge officially challenged the Ohio State University Red Cross Club to "Fight for Life" to a rematch on Feb. 21. Penn State fell short in last year's competition collecting 1,183 units of blood to Ohio State's 1,227 units of blood.

Similar to the Penn State vs. Michigan State Blood Donor Challenge that takes place every fall, the American Red Cross hopes that the contest will motivate students to give blood more regularly. Approximately five percent of the U.S. population donates blood in a given year, although up to 40 percent may meet the eligibility criteria to donate. This eligibility percentage certainly could be higher on a college campus. If just five percent of the Penn State population donated blood, about 2,415 units of blood would be collected. This would greatly exceed the goal for this competition of 1,230 units.

A donor may donate every fifty-six days. That means during the school year, four donations may be scheduled, one every two months. Sadly, however, during the 2010-2011 school year, the average Penn State donor gave only 1.7 times.

The blood collected during the Penn State vs Ohio State Fight for Life will help supply blood needed at hospitals in both the Greater Alleghenies and Central Ohio Regions of the American Red Cross. A unit of blood has a shelf life of only forty-two days so replenishment must be constant. Every two seconds someone needs blood in the U.S. More than thirty thousand pints of blood are needed daily.

As an incentive to donate, all presenting donors will be given coupons from McLanahan's for a $.99 breakfast sandwich, Appalachian Outdoors for $$ off your next purchase and a buy one, get one half off from Got Used Bookstore.

Special food will be provided at all drives from area businessed including Home Delivery Pizza Pub, Jersey Mike's Subs, and Papa John's Pizza. The last drive of the semester and the final drive of the Fight for Life, Friday, April 27, will be sponsored by the Penn State Block and Bridle Club, Penn State Java, and the Pennsylvania Beef Council. Hamburgers will be served at the canteen.

Presenting donors will also have their last chance to win through the Give Life...For Life, Penn State's Donor Rewards Program. Returning donors with two, three or four donations by the end of the academic year will be eligible to win prizes including an iPad, Sony megapixel camera, Lioncash, NorthFace backpack and more.

The Student Red Cross Club will again partner with Penn State's Greek Week to allow Greeks to earn spirit points for donating, volunteering or sponsoring a blood drive. Penn State's continuous progress against Ohio State will be documented daily on several scoreboards in the HUB and the residence halls. Updates will also be posted on the Student Red Cross web site and its Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Blood donation appointments are strongly recommended and can be made at http://www.psuredcross.org. Once a drive is chosen, the donor will be redirected to the new American Red Cross scheduling system. By choosing "New User", the donor will be able to log into his/her own webpage and can easily make, change, and cancel donation appointments.

To learn more, please check out the entire press release found here.

Club Goals

The purpose of the Penn State Student Red Cross Club is to coordinate student activities relating to the programs fostered by the American Red Cross. These activities include: blood services, safety and lifesaving introduction, health fairs, youth services and other projects agreed upon by the membership.

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