From the iconic logo to the “I Gave Blood” stickers, the Red Cross is essentially a synonym for giving back. Because the National Society for Leadership and Success here at UW-Whitewater has a similar goal, the pairing of the two programs for a blood drive simply made sense.

On Feb. 5 and 6, NSLS partnered with the Red Cross in order to help the community donate blood to those in need, but this isn’t NSLS’s first time collaborating with Red Cross on this type of project.

“Our last blood drive was last September and we collected a total of 62 pints [of blood], helping save 186 lives,” said Katelyn Carey, co-publicity chair for NSLS.

Due to the achievements of that Blood Drive, both NSLS and the Red Cross decided to come together in the spring semester. However, to make this work for yet another year, there was a lot of behind-the-scenes work to be done.

“I was working very closely with our representative from Red Cross,” said Community Service Chair Lauren Murphy.  “Planning the room we were going to be in, best ways to get the word out, and then, of course, making sure we were executing the plan.”

Both the behind-the-scenes work and the overarching goal between the two were the reasons this donation, and the previous donation, have thrived, and Justina Zukauskaite, project manager for NSLS, was able to sum up why the collaboration works so well.

“We are ultimately trying to create more just and caring world while holding ourselves accountable for academic excellence,” Zukauskaite said. “I think this Blood Drive, and others past, are steps in the right direction of that goal.”