The Geneseo American Red Cross Club
Photo courtesy of the Red Cross club
December often coins the nickname “Do Good December,” challenging people to do some acts of good throughout the month. A fantastic way to do good this December is with the Geneseo American Red Cross club. The club was founded here at Geneseo in 2006 and has been helping the campus and community ever since.
On Wednesday, Nov. 15, the Geneseo American Red Cross club hosted a blood drive here on campus. The blood drive was held in the Union ballroom and ran from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The club hosts at least two blood drives on campus every single semester. Appointments can be made directly on the American Red Cross website, or students can contact the club at their email (redcross@geneseo.edu) with questions about donating blood and scheduling an appointment.
Adrianna Licata, a senior biology major with a human development minor, is the club's vice president and shared just a small portion of the hard work needed to host these blood drives. Licata said “We are the ones that get all of the volunteers for the blood drive. [We] supply all of these people to make sure that [people who donate blood] they are feeling good after.”
Executive board members of the club could be spotted all throughout the day at the blood drive, including their president, senior biology major Larry Kuhn. Licata also shared that “The blood drive coordinators are the ones that coordinate [with the American Red Cross]. Basically, all of this is in coordination with the Red Cross. [The American Red Cross] gets all of the beds set up, the chairs set up, and everything like that.”
As I spoke with Licata about the blood drive, she pointed out one of the club’s blood drive coordinators, senior biology and sociomedical sciences Abby Shafer, actively donating blood. She is a prime example of a hardworking student trying to help out the community and campus.
Donating blood is not a possibility for many people for a variety of reasons, but this does not mean that there are no volunteer opportunities available through the Red Cross. The club has meetings bi-weekly on Mondays, and any questions about becoming a volunteer can be sent to their email stated earlier.
Volunteering with the Red Cross is a great opportunity, especially since Licata said, “we have everyone in volunteer connection, which is basically our website that we can track peoples hours in. So all of these hours that people are doing [can be] put onto their resumes and it’s just a really great experience.” The link to Volunteer Connections can be easily found on the Geneseo website and can be used for volunteering with the club functions or directly with the Red Cross.
Volunteering with the Red Cross is very convenient, and the club makes it extremely easy to keep track of hours and schedule volunteer time to coordinate with your schedule. So, if you are looking for something good to do this December, consider donating blood with the American Red Cross, or volunteer with the club right here on campus.