Last year, the Pat Walker Health Center teamed up with the Community Blood Center of the Ozarks for the first-ever Well Pig Sooie Blood Drive. During last year's two-day event, 179 pints of blood were collected, helping save the lives of up to 537 people in the community!

The health center is once again teaming up with Community Blood Center for the now annual Well Pig Sooie Blood Drive, which will be held January 26-27 in the Arkansas Union Ballroom. Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to drop by between 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. to donate blood. All donors will receive a special-event t-shirt and free pizza!

"We are excited to co-sponsor again the second annual Well Pig Sooie Blood Drive with the Community Blood Center of the Ozarks," said Dr. Ed Mink, director of Wellness & Health Promotion for the health center. "We hope the continued success of this event establishes this as an ongoing tradition at the U of A."

This year, both groups hope to amass last years total and collect 225 pints of blood, which equates to saving up to 675 lives in the community. All blood donated goes to help all local hospitals in Northwest Arkansas.

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," said Dr. Mink. "Donating blood is a wonderful way to practice wellness in your own life."

The Community Blood Center issued alerts for specific blood-types, and donors are urged to give this week.

Community Blood Center of the Ozarks is on a Code Red Alert for O-positive and O-negative blood types and a Code Yellow Alert for B-negative and A-positive blood types. The campus community is strongly urged to give blood this week at the Well Pig Sooie Blood Drive.

"Every day, 220 blood donations are needed to supply our local hospitals. We couldn't do it without our generous volunteers throughout the community, said Savanna Swaffer, blood drive consultant for CBCO. "We are excited to partner again with Pat Walker to remind students of the importance of blood donation and how much it can enrich many aspects of their lives."

Be the Match is an easy way to potentially save a life!

The campus community is encouraged to sign-up for the Be The Match registry at the Well Pig Sooie Blood Drive.

Thousands of patients with blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, sickle cell anemia or other life-threatening diseases depend on the Be The Match Registry to find a match to save their life. The registry is easy to join and requires just a cheek swab!

Participants must be between the ages of 18 to 44. This is based on medical research that shows younger donors are best for patients and provide the greatest chance for transplant success. Because of this, doctors request donors in the 18 to 44 age group more than 95% of the time.

For more information about donating blood, go to www.cbco.org or health.uark.edu.