CSU partners with UCHealth to host campus blood drive

collegian.com · Feb 23, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

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Robert Sides, Staff Reporter Collegian | Cerys Hembury Chris Jeracki, a Colorado State University student, squeezes a blood pressure cuff while donating blood and talking to Joe Dunn, blood drive recruiter for UCHealth, during the Garth Englund Blood Center blood drive in the Lory Student Center Feb. 18. “I’m just actually donating with my mom,” Jeracki said. “We like to do things together. It’s a good cause.” Colorado State University students and faculty donated blood Feb. 16-18, starting at the Translational Medical Institute and then to the Lory Student Center. The blood donated during the drive went to UCHealth’s Garth Englund Blood Center. “CSU has hosted blood drives in the past, but they were smaller in scale or just one-day drives,” said Robyn Goldy, CSU’s Don and Susie Law Engineering Success Center event coordinator. “This effort is an expansion of that effort to try to do a multi-day drive and get more engagement from students, faculty and staff. This is the first time that we’ve hosted a blood drive this large on campus.” “Rams take care of Rams, and CSU and Fort Collins are unlike any other college town in that regard. This blood drive is a great way of showing that.” –Kelly Tracer, UCHealth media relations specialist Goldy said her first experience donating blood was during her own undergraduate years at Colorado College, and she has donated blood ever since. The decision to coordinate a blood drive at CSU came from experiences hosting drives at other universities. “I’ve also worked at various other higher-ed institutions where they’ve hosted multi-day blood drives in their student union or in their student center,” Goldy said. “They’ve always seemed to be a lot of fun, and they were very successful.” The blood drive was run by the UCHealth Garth Englund Blood Center, a division of UCHealth that handles blood donation in Northern Colorado and runs blood drives in the region. The blood drive at CSU is the start of a collaboration between Colorado State University and the Garth Englund Blood Center. “To be part of a piece of history for the Garth England Blood Center is awesome on its own,” said Joe Dunn, UCHealth Garth Englund blood donor recruiter. “Establishing this partnership with CSU is even better.” The blood drive was held on a “blood bus” outside the Translational Medicine Institute on South Campus on Monday, and the following two days, the drive was held in the Grand Ballroom of the Lory Student Center. CSU and Garth Englund Blood Center chose Monday’s location to give CSU employees who work at the South Campus an opportunity to donate blood, without having to take the time to travel to main campus. “A lot of the staff were very happy that we had the blood bus just right outside their building,” Dunn said. “It was easy for them to walk up and donate.” The blood drive had several sponsors, one of which being the CSU One Health Institute. The One Health Institute is an organization under the CSU Vice President for Research, designed to advance health for humans, animals and the environment. The institute co-sponsored the blood drive to advance community outreach in supporting human health. “It’s been great to meet new people and tell them about our institute and to be able to see the huge support that’s come from it,” said Kelli Davison, One Health Institute administrative coordinator. “We have had so many walk-in appointments of people who want to donate and help.” All blood collected by the Garth Englund Blood Center is donated exclusively to hospitals in Northern Colorado to ensure that donations are quicker and feel more impactful. “The fact that we’re already thinking ahead to ‘How we can help people in the moment?’ is a great opportunity,” said Sara Perrine, CSU’s Engineering Success Center’s engagement and retention coordinator. “I’m so glad that this is an opportunity to help people directly through the community.” As partners, CSU and the UCHealth Garth Englund Blood Center have discussed bringing blood drives to CSU, aiming to host a drive once every semester. The partnership serves as an opportunity for the CSU community to save lives by donating blood from their own campus. “Rams take care of Rams, and CSU and Fort Collins are unlike any other college town in that regard,” said Kelly Tracer, UCHealth media relations specialist. “This blood drive is a great way of showing that.” Reach Robert Sides at news@collegian.com or on social media @RMCollegian.