Blood drive runs 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday

By Holly Dillemuth, Ashland.news

After a 17-year hiatus and amid a strain on the nation’s blood supply, the Red Cross is returning to the Southern Oregon University campus in Ashland this week for a two-day blood drive.

The Red Cross will host its first blood drive since 2007 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday in the first floor Associated Students of Southern Oregon University (ASSOU) Lounge inside Stevenson Union at SOU, 1118 Siskiyou Blvd. 

Pizza and sheet cake will be on hand for blood donors, as well as $10 e-gift cards.

Ace Ventura, a spokesperson for Red Cross who also manages blood drives for the organization throughout the Rogue Valley and part of the Oregon coast, said he hopes to collect 160 to 180 units of blood over the two-day drive, which is open to the public in addition to SOU students and staff.

“We’ll need everyone to rally and come together and give blood,” Ventura told Ashland.news via phone on Monday, while shopping for blood drive supplies.

“We need every drop we can get,” he added.

The Red Cross has had to cancel tens of thousands of blood drives in the southeast due to Hurricane Helene. Likely more will be canceled as Hurricane Milton barrels toward Florida, according to Ventura. Ventura hopes the drive will put a dent in recovering those lost units of blood.

“So right now with this drive we have over the next two days, pretty awesome timing,” Ventura said, “because really what I want to do and what I envision is our community rallying around our future generation.

“Right now, with these (natural) disasters (hurricanes in the southeast), this is going to strain our blood supply, most absolutely,” he added later in the interview. “And now we’re looking at a second hurricane.”

Ventura said giving blood in college helped change the trajectory of his own life, directing him toward his current career path. He noted being able to be notified of the facility and city where his blood donation had been used was especially meaningful, and believes the experience of helping another by donating blood can have a similar impact on all individuals. 

Carrie Vath, dean of students and assistant vice president of Student Affairs, plans to be among those who donates blood during the event.

She has experienced the impact of a blood donation firsthand as well. 

After delivering her daughter, Vath lost a significant amount of blood that led her to need a number of blood transfusions.

“Had I not had that blood, I would’ve died,” Vath said, “and so I — to me … somebody saved my life and allowed me to be present with my daughter and my husband.”

Blood drives are returning to the campus following an unanimous vote by ASSOU, the university’s student government, to overturn a ban on such drives on campus that had been on the books since 2007.

The previous ban on Red Cross blood drives on campus stemmed from what was seen as a lack of inclusion of sexually active gay men by student government representatives. Sexually active gay men were previously restricted from donating blood to the Red Cross until 2022.

Ventura explains the reason for the FDA’s “stringent” rules at the time regarding blood donations stems from the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s.

“We have to go by FDA regulations and rules because our blood is considered a pharmaceutical product,” Ventura told Ashland.news in a phone interview.

Due to the AIDS epidemic, some of those regulations included language restricting sexually active gay men from donating blood.

“I actually applaud the students at SOU back in 2007, because those rules had been around for already a couple decades and … they decided, you know what, that doesn’t feel very inclusive to folks,” Ventura said. “There was a lot of debate over that, obviously, but at the end of the day, the students spoke and their voice was to say, ‘’No, we’re not going to do blood drives until there’s change.’”

That change has come.

The language, and specifically the questions that FDA asked blood donors, changed in 2022.

“Now questions are more inclusive,” Ventura said, noting they don’t target a specific sexual orientation. 

Ventura and the Red Cross began conversations with student government at SOU once again to renew discussions surrounding blood drives.

Ventura recalled meeting with ASSOU representatives not only as a blood donor, but as a father of a gay son who, Ventura said, was not allowed to give blood due to his sexual preferences.

“I shared my experience about my son … and how it broke my heart,” Ventura said.

Ventura said he emphasized to student government representatives at the time that the Red Cross was never trying to keep gay men from playing a role in the organization’s overall mission.

“They were really receptive to that message,” Ventura said. “We want to work with everyone.”

Blood donors must be a minimum of 16 years of age, with a parent or guardian present. Donors age 17 and above do not need parental permission.

For more details about eligibility for donating blood, to schedule an appointment or to learn more about Red Cross, go online to redcrossblood.org and enter SOU, or call 800-RED-CROSS (800-733-2767).

According to the website, blood donations will also be taken from 1 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10, at First Presbyterian Church, 1615 Clark Ave, Ashland.

Email Ashland.news reporter Holly Dillemuth at [email protected].