SIXTH ANNUAL ODU-CAA BLOOD DRIVE STARTS TODAY

The ODU-CAA Blood Drive will be Thursday, Oct. 25th in the Hampton Room at Webb Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Every donor will receive a custom Hershey Bar. The five lucky donors that find hidden red tickets will be entered to win a trip to Hershey, PA. and receive a chocolate fun pack. To schedule an appointment please visit www.givelife.org. Sponsor Code is ODU.

The Colonial Athletic Association Blood Challenge starts its sixth consecutive year with a goal of producing another record-setting campaign. The 2006 event resulted in 3,215 actual donors and 3,287 productive units of blood from the 12 CAA campuses, which represented a 22 percent increase over the 2005 totals and an amazing 182 percent increase from the inaugural blood challenge in 2002. Over the past five years, the CAA Blood Challenge has raised a total of 10,697 units of blood, which has helped to save 32,091 lives.

"The success of the CAA Blood Challenge has become a source of pride for the conference and its member institutions," CAA Commissioner Tom Yeager said. "The event continues to grow each year and we have been overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and participation on each of our campuses. Our ability to enhance each community's blood supply is incredibly important and I applaud the institutions for undertaking this life-saving project."

Each CAA institution designates one day during the fall to conduct a campus-wide blood drive. With the assistance of local blood service centers, a count is kept of all people who donate blood on that day. Based on those numbers, the CAA determines a winner and presents a trophy to that institution.

Drexel University is the defending champion of the CAA Blood Challenge. Last year, Drexel had 713 actual donors, which resulted in 789 units of blood collected. All 12 CAA institutions had over 75 donors participate in the program and five collected more than 250 units of blood. Along with Drexel, four-time Blood Challenge champion Delaware had 702 donors, Georgia State had 299 donors and Towson had 284 donors.

The CAA Blood Challenge was developed in 2002 by the league presidents as a fun way to emphasize the critical importance of donating blood. Each institution promotes the event on campus and encourages student groups, faculty, staff and alumni to participate and support their school.