Well Pig Sooie Blood Drive Helps Save up to 537 Lives in Community

Last month, the Pat Walker Health Center teamed up with the Community Blood Center of the Ozarks in the first-ever Well Pig Sooie Blood Drive.

Giving blood is one of the best ways to help saves lives, and the University of Arkansas community showed up with phenomenal numbers!

During this two-day event, 179 pints of blood were collected from 226 participants, 97 of which were first-timers! Overall, the blood collected, which exceeded the goal by 20 pints, will go toward helping save the lives of up to 537 people in the community!

"Working with the Pat Walker Health Center was wonderful! They helped us to tie in a wellness aspect to our blood drive by encouraging blood donation to not only help saves lives, but for the health benefits that it can provide," said Savanna Swaffer, blood drive consultant. "We greatly appreciate their support in raising awareness of blood donations for the community."

Donating blood, apart from the obvious of saving lives, is also great for overall wellness. "Wellness is all about living life with high levels of awareness, conscious, intentional choice, interconnectedness, love, meaning and purpose," says Dr. Ed Mink, director of Wellness and Health Promotion at the Pat Walker Health Center. "All of these elements are experienced through the process of donating blood and saving lives."

For more information about the health center, go to health.uark.edu.