Over 40 individuals were signed up to donate blood and about half were turned away during a drive held outside the Mashouf Wellness Center on Wednesday.
Co-hosted by the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and Campus Recreation, the event marked their first blood drive in coordination with Vitalant for San Francisco State University students from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Vitalant scheduled four phlebotomists to gather 27 donations — but by 11 a.m., students and other campus community members were lining up out the door. Many were under the assumption that they would be able to walk in.
41 people walked in, but only 26 were screened and able to successfully donate, all of whom had appointments. Several students waited and left due to scheduled classes or the long wait time.
Rachel Tapper-Dame, a Vitalant donor care phlebotomist, said 75% of sign-ups are usually accepted. She said that people may be ineligible for several reasons, including the weight minimum, anxiety or taking specific prescription medication.
Gabby Vicuna, a student manager working the event, was turned away for having a heart rate that was too high. Vicuna joked that the stress was caused by working the blood drive.
“[They] let me sit alone for about 10 minutes for it to regulate, but after waiting it was still too high,” Vicuna said.
Many people donating blood were avid donors, such as Sage Keyner, the student manager of risk management and sustainability for Campus Recreation, who pitched the idea to her team in November.
“I’ve always been a donor,” Keyner said. “A cousin dealt with leukemia and thankfully doesn’t have it anymore, but I always have that feeling of what we could be doing for other people.”
Keyner hopes the recreation department will continue hosting blood drives once or twice a semester because donating blood can help community members in need.
Another regular donor is Cristobal Ferrusca, an SFSU facilities worker who, at 47 years old, has been donating blood since he was 18 years old in the United States and in Mexico, where he was born.
Ferrusca, who was born three months prematurely, said that had someone not donated blood for his transfusion, he might not be alive today.
Janelle Sutton, a second-year transfer student who always wanted to donate, gave blood for the first time.
“They posted on Instagram and I was like, ‘I’m not doing anything on Valentine’s Day, so why not?’” Sutton said.
That was exactly Keyner’s intention when organizing the event on Valentine’s Day, getting people to act in service to the community.
“If [people] want something special to do, what a perfect way to spend it,” she said.
