UTSA
student's quick thinking helps make blood drive a success
(Sept. 12, 2001)--As the reports of terrorist attacks continued to mount
Tuesday, some students at UTSA were hard at work trying to do their part to
help the many families in need of assistance.
A blood drive already set to begin this week took on a new level of importance,
as the call for all types of blood was being heard across the country.
The blood drive would not have been as big of a success as it was without
the efforts of junior education major Jennifer Gearheart. The 26-year-old
mother of two was feeling discouraged at the low turnout in the early hours
of the drive, and decided to take it upon herself to generate larger numbers
of donors.
Gearheart says she knew there were groups of students on campus watching the televised reports of the terrorism unfolding, so she asked the biggest person in military uniform she could find, to go to them and tell them that they could do their part by donating blood to help the victims.
In no time, the lines around the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center Bloodmobile
started to grow as more and more people came to donate blood. With the wait
times increasing, Gearheart decided more quick thinking was needed to help
those contributing.
She picked up the phone and called one of her best friends to explain the
situation. Her friend's husband in the pizza business and Gearheart were eventually
able to persuade California Pizza Kitchen and Papa John's Pizza to donate
and deliver 60 pizzas to the waiting crowd.
But Gearheart was not finished yet. As the donation hours extended into the
evening, she also convinced a McDonald's restaurant to contribute 100 hamburgers
and french fries to the cause.
"I heard someone on the radio say, we form communities when our system
is in danger, and I think that is what happened here today, " said Gearheart.
She says she has enjoyed her freedom for so long that she felt she had to
do anything she could to help, and to encourage others to do the same.
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
UTSA
Tri-Campuses honor those lost to terrorism
Latino
Heritage Week continues through Sept. 21 at UTSA
Nominations
for UTSA Staff Excellence Awards are being accepted now
UTSA student's quick thinking helps make blood drive a success
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