More than 1,362 members from the Sacramento State community donated blood in the University Ballroom as part of the third annual Causeway Classic Blood Drive.

The event put UC Davis against Sac State in an effort to see which school could collect the most donations of blood. Each school is also encouraged to register people to be listed on the bone marrow registry. The trophy will be awarded on Nov. 20 to the winning school at the Causeway Classic football game between the UC Davis Aggies and the Sac State Hornets.

The event was open to Sac State students, faculty, staff and community members and this year, they targeted alumni more than in previous years.

“The Third Annual Causeway Classic is sure to be fun,” said Mitzy Edgecomb, vice president of recruitment for BloodSource. “This good-natured rivalry helps the many patients in need of blood products every day. We appreciate the enthusiastic support from both Sac State and UC Davis.”

UC Davis has to beat the 1,362 people who donated blood. In the three years of competition Sac State has yet to win the title.

“It’s really hard,” said Mary Davis, BloodSource student coordinator for Sac State. “If you look at Davis’ school, they are plopped in the middle of a community as opposed to here. We have a distinct area of where Sac State ends and Sac State begins.”

At Sac State, BloodSource and Associated Students Inc. organized the blood drive with sponsorship from the West Sacramento IKEA store, Chick-Fil-A, The Habit Burger and GAP. Professor Timothy Howard’s public relations class assisted with the media campaign.

Students had several different reasons for donating blood or marrow including a free T-shirt, coupons and a chance to win iPods or an IKEA gift certificate and extra credit from participating classes. There was also the option to register as a group, and the organization or club with the most participants won $500. However, for many students, the gifts weren’t the motivating factor.

Kyle Myers, senior social science major, has a son that has gastroschis, which is a defect where the abdominal wall does not close all the way or closes too quickly, and had to have surgery.

Because of his son’s previous condition, Myers came out to the blood drive and said, “I felt obligated to do it.”

Next year, BloodSource is trying to help decrease the one- to two-hour wait time for Sac State students that want to donate by adding a second station at The Well.

“Students should give blood to save a life,” Davis said. “I think that should be their No. 1 reason.”

Mike Suechting can be reached at [email protected].