With a campus blood drive scheduled in mid-January – and Penn College about to embark on its yearlong Centennial celebration – statistics recently compiled by the American Red Cross and College Health Services opportunely attest to the institution’s historical service to its community. While detailed records are not available for many years (including the Williamsport Area Community College era when Bloodmobile visits were a regular part of student life), figures show that 7,165 pints were donated in Penn’s Inn just since 2002: nearly 900 gallons! College Health Services director Carl L. Shaner maintained records from 2002-05, during which 1,551 units were collected; those numbers are supplemented by electronic tabulations kept by the Red Cross regional office, which show a total of 5,614 pints from 2006-present. As each unit potentially helps three patients, that amounts to as many as 21,495 lives saved by the selflessness of student, faculty and staff donors.
