Setting up a mammoth blood drive is akin to building a 100-bed hospital emergency department from scratch and then taking it down a few days later. I got to see this in person with what is reported to be the largest student-run blood drive in the nation. Columbia is the city where you can find the University of Missouri, popularly called Mizzou, home to more than 30,000 students. For more than 40 years, the school has hosted blood drives in partnership with the American Red Cross. This year they broke their own record, collecting over 5,000 units of blood. You can read my post about the blood drive last month here on the chapter blog.

(photo is of Red Cross phlebotomist Jenise McKee readies Mizzou student donor Jake McCarthy for his Power Red blood donation.)