UCLA Blood & Platelet Center hosted its annual Black History Month Blood Drive in the De Neve Plaza Rooms on Feb. 13.

Undergraduate students volunteered and participated in the event – which has run for four consecutive years – with the support of groups such as the Black Bruin Resource Center.

Aminah Hill, a fourth-year sociology student, said she participated in the blood drive for the first time. Hill, who is also a member of the Afrikan Diaspora Living Learning Community, said she worked in collaboration with the center and promoted the event through social media outreach.

“I feel like there’s not a lot of opportunities,” Hill said. “I know that we have a huge LLC blood donation, but it’s not really ever geared toward one specific group, so having one day specifically for Black people to feel comfortable and see other people like them donating blood as well.”

In the past, Hill had a mixed relationship with donating blood, she said. She added that she has experienced hearing about the stigmas associated with donating blood in the Black community from her father’s side of her family while also having a mother who works in healthcare.

Katie Marley, a first-year psychology student, said she decided to contribute to the event to support members of the LLC programs, including Hill. Marley added that she enjoyed attending similar events in high school, and helping others prompted her to take initiative with this blood drive.

“It’s so empowering to see that students are coming in, people who work for UCLA are coming in to donate and help other people,” Marley said.

Dr. Dawn Ward, a medical director of the UCLA Blood & Platelet Center, said she oversees the blood donor center to ensure the center and her staff are collecting pure and safe blood products.

As a transfusion medicine physician, Ward said she was interested in this specific field of medicine to make an impact on various types of transfusions that support patients, including trauma, organ transplant, stem cell and everyday patients.

Ward said it is critical for African Americans of different ethnicities to participate in blood drives to increase the availability of diverse blood types.

“Having drives such as these and other drives with specific ethnic groups allows us to have a variety of phenotypes for the red cells, which helps, then, allow us to support more patients and use our internal blood supply, as opposed to having to obtain blood from external blood suppliers,” Ward added.

For example, Ward said patients with sickle cell disease – misshapen ‘sickled’ red blood cells affecting cells that carry oxygen to the body’s tissues and organs ​​– who require regular blood transfusions can now improve their quality of life by having access to UCLA’s diverse blood supply.

Hill said she does not often see doctors educating Black students on the importance of blood donations for the African American community.

“It’s interesting how UCLA is trying to change it and make it more accessible, and having Dr. Ward come speak to the Black Bruins Resource Center and let the students know that it’s okay and everything’s going to be safe,” Hill said. “Even if you can’t donate blood, there’s always a way to participate and help, whether it’s volunteering or donating blood itself.”

Jason Kamassab, a first-year political science student, said he became involved by signing up through his LLC group chat and volunteered at the snack table during the event.

Although he did not donate blood, Kamassab said his ultimate goal was to learn from the event. He said he learned that donating stem cells and having different types of demographics is an essential part of the blood drive.

Ward said involving ethnically diverse donors, especially younger donors, is a critical aspect of making such an event possible.

“Why not try it? At least if you do it once, you did it once, just to see how it goes, and if something that makes you feel really passionate about or something that you enjoy to feel empowered by,” Hill said. “Keep on doing it, not just for this one day, but whether they have future events or get yourself out there.”