Tuesday, June 19, 2012

The Student-Athlete Advisory Committees (SAAC) at GNAC member schools Saint Martin's University, Northwest Nazarene University, Montana State University Billings, Central Washington University, Seattle Pacific University and University of Alaska Anchorage helped recruit donors and collect more than 2,000 units in blood drives this past school year.

“Our student-athletes made a significant contribution to their local communities with their blood drives,” GNAC Commissioner Dave Haglund said. “Community outreach is a central component of the NCAA Division II experience, and we salute these student volunteers for giving back in an area of critical need.”

“The GNAC SAAC hopes to establish the blood drives as an annual event,” GNAC assistant commissioner Tricia Haddock added.

Saint Martin's SAAC committee, working closely with their Campus Ministry, contributed to the 1,756 units collected by their university.

Northwest Nazarene University's SAAC, collaborating with the NNU Student Government Association (SGA), collected 125 units during three blood drives throughout the year.

Montana State Billings' SAAC collected 86 units in fall and spring blood drives, while Central Washington, Seattle Pacific and Alaska Anchorage collected 54, 49 and 39 units, respectively.

Each unit can save as many as three lives, according to blood drive officials.

“The units collected through our blood drives this year could save as many as 6,327 lives,” GNAC assistant commissioner Tricia Haddock, who works closely with the GNAC SAAC committee noted. “We're very excited how the program went this year.”