University of Central Florida Blood Drives Help Replenish Region’s Supply

By  //  July 3, 2016

Additional volunteers are needed

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Since the June 12 shootings at the Pulse nightclub, University of Central Florida blood drives have netted 424 units of blood to help replenish the region’s supply. (UCF Image)

ORLANDO, FLORIDA – Since the June 12 shootings at the Pulse nightclub, University of Central Florida blood drives have netted 424 units of blood to help replenish the region’s supply.

The UCF community also has responded to help search for a bone marrow donor for 20-month-old Korbyn Martinez, the son of a UCF engineering graduate. Korbyn suffers from leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant to survive.

Both efforts, in partnership with OneBlood, will continue on campus. Blood drives are scheduled 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, July 5, at the Student Union and the Veterans Commemorative Site on Memory Mall, with a Big Red Bus at each location. A bus will be stationed in front of the Student Union from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, July 6.

On Wednesday, July 6, members of the UCF community also will be able to sign up to find out if they can help save a life on the “Be the Match” bone marrow transplant registry. Anyone age 18 to 44 can take a few minutes filling out a consent form and getting a cheek swab to see if their bone marrow could be the match that could help Korbyn or someone else in need.

The 424 units collected since the Pulse tragedy came from several small drives and a large community blood drive with 12 Big Red Buses on Monday, June 27, at Bright House Networks Stadium.

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Two student volunteers, Kyra Clark and Justin Mendiguren, volunteered from start to finish at every blood drive in the response efforts. Together, they have invested more than 80 hours of service.

Additional volunteers are needed to help with on-campus blood drives.

For more information and a calendar of upcoming drives, visit http://BloodDrives-UCF.org or contact BloodDrives@ucf.edu or 407-823-3094.