Blood Drive One of the Largest in Collegiate Midwest Region
Southeast Missouri State University’s Greek Week 2024 held April 6-14 raised more than $25,000 in the spirit of philanthropy to support the campus and local community, with this year’s blood drive finishing as one the largest in recent Greek Week history. The blood drive netted 452 units donated to the American Red Cross.
“The partnership with the American Red Cross is a long-standing tradition for our students and one that is consistently one of the largest blood drives in our region,” said Dr. Bruce Skinner, associate vice president for Student Life. “This means a potential of over 2,000 hospital patients will receive lifesaving transfusions thanks to our efforts. The Greek Week blood drive is one of the examples of what our fraternity and sorority community can do when they come together to support our campus, community, and region.”
During the week, Southeast Greeks raised near $10,000 to benefit several local organizations, including One City, Boy Scouts of America, Dream Factory, Foster Adopt Connect, SEMO Network Against Sexual Violence, Community Partnership of Southeast MO, and Voices for Children. The students also expanded their fundraising for the region by partnering with Special Olympics to raise $15,100 to support area athletes.
MacKenzie Baker, the Polar Plunge Greek Week Coordinator, said, “This event showed that the Greek community strives to build members that consistently give back to their community, educate others, and raise awareness and increase acceptance about intellectual disabilities.”
In addition, Southeast’s Greek community collected more than 5,500 canned goods or food items. This year’s items were donated to the Redhawk Food Pantry, which serves members of the University community.
