Oct. 18, 2005

NORFOLK,VA - The ODU Blood Drive "CAA Blood Challenge" is set for Tuesday, Oct. 25 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Hampton Room of Webb Center.

Visit the sign-up table in Webb Center on Oct. 18 and Oct. 20 from 12-2 or call April Brecht at 683-3709. This is sponsored by ODU athletics, Interfraternity Council, National Pan-Hellenic Council and Pan - Hellenic Council.

The fourth annual Colonial Athletic Association Blood Challenge gets underway on Friday with a goal of exceeding last year's record-setting campaign. The 2004 event resulted in 2,929 attempted donors and 2,114 productive units of blood from the 10 CAA campuses, which was an amazing 50% increase over the 2003 totals and an 81.5% increase from the inaugural blood challenge in 2002.

"The CAA Blood Challenge has been unbelievably successful and has become a source of pride for the conference and its member institutions," CAA Commissioner Tom Yeager said. "The enthusiasm and participation on each of our campuses has been outstanding and continues to grow each year. 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 will designate one day during the Fall to conduct a campus-wide blood drive. With the assistance of local blood service centers, a count will be kept of all people who show up to donate blood on that day. Based on those numbers, the CAA will determine a winner and present a trophy to that institution.

The University of Delaware is the three-time defending champion of the CAA Blood Challenge. Last year, Delaware had 857 attempted donors and 588 units of blood collected. UD more than doubled its number of attempted donors and collected 277 more units of blood than its previous record of 311 set in the 2003 Challenge. It was once again the largest single-day blood drive in the history of the Blood Bank of DELMARVA. Seven CAA institutions had over 100 donors participate in the program and four had 300 or more attempted donors. Drexel University was second with 625 attempted donors and 509 units of blood, while Towson University collected 277 units of blood.

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.