For the Valdosta State Blazers, winning championships is in the blood. On Monday Feb. 15, that mentality takes on an entirely different meaning as the Blazers football team will host its annual blood drive in the P.E. Complex.
The blood drive is one of Georgia’s largest single-day drives, producing close to the state record of 427 units. In 2008, the drive produced 381 units and increased to 403 units in 2009. The football team has taken it upon themselves to break the state record by hitting the hallways, classroom and offices of the university.
The Blazers blood drive has put VSU in the same unit range as the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech and Georgia State University.
The players have been personally covering the campus, asking students, faculty, and staff to donate blood. The football team is doing what it can to break the state record for donated units, but the record for the Southern Region is also a possibility.
“If VSU breaks the state record this year, it will put them second only to University of South Carolina in the Southern Region, which covers Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee,” Nikki Stewart, Donor Recruitment Representative, said. “Every November, USC holds a five-day blood drive where they collect 400 to 500 units per day and they broke their own single-day record this year with the second day of the week long drive pulling in 645 units. I have no doubt that if VSU really set out to do it, they could top that and take the title for the entire region.”
The Blazers have out-performed most of the major university drives, but the local high school competition has proven to be just as solid. Lowndes County High School has reached 397 units and Colquitt County High School has recorded a high of 371.
The Blazers are looking to claim the state record and add another line, albeit a much different one, to the tradition of winning.