Vaulted ceilings and organ pipes set the stage for a different type of sacrifice during Shippensburg Circle K’s blood drive in the Cora I. Grove Spiritual Center.

According to Circle K President Gina Bryson, Circle K holds a blood drive every month.
The drives are usually held in the CUB multipurpose room, but this year’s first few were “all over the place,” Bryson said.

For September, Circle K exceeded its goal, set by the Red Cross, of 49 donations. Fifty-three people donated during this month’s drive, Bryson said.

The 53 donors could take pride knowing they made a difference.

“There are a lot of people who need blood transfusions. In any sort of situation, like a surgery, someone could need blood, so it’s important to have a supply of different types,” Bryson said.
According to the Red Cross website, there are four different blood types. The ability to conduct a blood transfusion is dependent on patient and donor blood type. For example, a donor with blood type O can donate to all four blood types, but a type AB donor can only give to an AB patient.

According to the Red Cross website, donors typically give one pint of blood, which is enough to save three lives.

Donor Jordan Wilson said he was happy to donate blood. He had learned a few days prior that his blood matched with a patient in his hometown in Allentown, and was disappointed he could not make the trip. He opted to contribute somewhere closer.

“This is my second time giving blood. I just want to make a difference in the world,” Wilson said.

Circle K’s efforts in organizing the drive match with the goal of the group. According to Bryson, Circle K is “the college version of Kiwanis,” which is a charity group. According to Kiwanis’s website, they are “A global organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world, one child and one community at a time.”

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