Introduction
The campus of the University of North Carolina in Asheville organized all kinds of events during the “Weeks of Welcome” so as to integrate its new and remaining students in a friendly and fulfilling environment, whether mandatory or voluntary.
One of those voluntary events consisted of a blood drive organized right on campus from Thursday August, 28th to Friday August, 29th 2025, during the morning and afternoon.
There was a reasonable number of students volunteering, most likely ranging in the hundreds in total, though probably not sufficient to donate a necessary amount of blood to the needy.
As one may guess, it takes a lot of time and commitment to organize and install temporary facilities for people to go and donate their blood. Not to mention the management of the applications for students who volunteer, as well as the maintenance and hygiene of the place.
We would like to thank Mr. Charlie Frisch, account manager alongside the American Red Cross, for not only being present on campus during the blood drive, but also for taking his time to provide information via e-mail for this article.
The paragraphs which you are about to read are indeed an account of his responsibilities and the willingness of the American population to donate blood.
How to organize blood drives
“The biggest responsibilities of my role involve organizing blood drives with local schools, organizations, businesses, and educating our community on the importance of donating blood,” said Frisch. For him it is crucial to organize blood drives in order to raise awareness and encourage people to volunteer, so as to save as many lives as possible. Everyone can play a role with a simple act of kindness. And anyone should think about the other, as if he or she shares the same responsibilities and struggles.
How many Americans donate blood
However, disappointed Frisch noticed that “unfortunately, only 3% of our country donates blood and the biggest reason for this is that folks are regularly asked”. This implies that people may be bothered by the constant reminder of helping others, while lacking a source of trust or interest. They may simply see those messages as a form of spam, in the sense that they may unwillingly discourage people from actually acting for the greater good.
Not only that, but he worries that “there’s an urgent need for all blood types. Every 2 seconds, someone in our country needs a blood transfusion. Plus, every unit of blood donated has the potential to save up to 3 lives”. In other words, the unfortunate folks have yet to receive blood, while very few people actually care enough to donate blood – which is rather shameful.
To make matters worse, “the need for blood is great at all times”, he added. Events like COVID-19, hurricanes and other natural disasters are some of the factors that make collecting blood even harder during those times. According to him, summer and the holiday season are also difficult times to collect due to high travel.
When blood drives succeed
Frisch realizes that “most people likely donate more frequently when a blood drive is near their work or home like their faith organization, place of businesses, or an American Red Cross fixed site like the at 100 Edgewood Road in Asheville and 211 1st Avenue East in Hendersonville”.
On the bright side, he notes that “UNC Asheville has a fantastic committee for blood drives lead by Kate Johnson and Jordan Wren”. As a matter of fact, the American Red Cross creates all marketing materials needed to promote upcoming blood drives. Indeed “it is the responsibility of a Blood Program Leader at each of our sponsors, to promote their event through social media, eblasts, networking, and face-to-face asks”, said Frisch.
Finally, the American Red Cross hosts between 3-6 blood drives throughout Western North Carolina in places of worship, schools, corporate and local businesses.
Information
If you and your organization are interested in hosting a blood drive, please consider learning more by giving Charlie Frisch a call on 828-844-4187.
Charlie Frisch, account manager – American Red Cross: [email protected]
Links
https://www.redcross.org – (American) Red Cross
https://www.redcross.org/give-blood.html – Blood Donation
https://donate.thebloodconnection.org/donor/schedules/center/8 – Blood Donation schedule via online appointment
