Blood drives are an incredibly important resource to the field of medicine, as they provide an incredibly important item to those in need. And to support those in need, Bemidji State University held their annual Joe Neumann All Campus Blood Drive on Thursday.

“This is one way that we can give back to the community,” said BSU Health Education Coordinator Jay Passa, “by using our location, our campus, our name, to host an all-campus blood drive.”

This drive also comes at the beginning of National Donor Awareness Month, meant to raise awareness for the growing need of donated blood, bone marrow, and organs.

“This is an international problem as of right now, the shortage is just, pretty much at an all-time low, and we just needed people to be more aware,” explained Vitalant Blood Donation Phlebotomist Emilie Robert.

This blood drive also served as a memorial event to honor former BSU employee Joe Neumann.

“The memory of Joe and keeping that memory alive is very important to me,” said Dave Carlson, a friend of Neumann and a donor. “I’m happy to be a part of it here, and I’m grateful for the people who do all the logistics to keep it going.”

Not only does this event keep Neumann’s memory alive, it also supports the community by providing a necessity to hospitals in the surrounding area.

“If we have the opportunity to give back to the community and to help, we’re certainly gonna do that,” said Passa. “Community service is something that BSU believes in, and we’ve always been able to, or wanted to give back to the community.”

This event was sponsored by a number of on-campus organizations including BSU’s IT department, which Neumann was a part of during his time at BSU.

By — Justin Othoudt