There’s still time to squeeze into one of a few remaining appointments this Monday, April 9, to help save lives and show your support for your favorite U.S. military branch by donating blood at MTSU‘s “Battle of the Branches” blood drive.

Click on the poster to make an appointment.

The friendly competition is set from noon to 6 p.m. in Cantrell Hall inside the Tom Jackson Building, located at 628 Alma Mater Drive on the west side of campus.

A campus parking map is available at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParkingMap, and some reserved parking spots have been set aside for donors in the Midgett Lot near the Jackson Building.

Donors can use the Red Cross’s new technology by typing “MTSUVeterans” into the “Find a Blood Drive” box at http://redcrossblood.org to make an appointment for Monday or using the new “American Red Cross Blood” app, available here.

Walk-in donors also will be welcome.

Donors also can save more time on donation day by completing the new “Rapid Pass” online health questionnaire at www.redcrossblood.org/rapidpass before giving blood. They’ll need to show an emailed or printed copy of the same-day confirmation at the check-in desk.

MTSU’s Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center and the MTSU Red Cross Club organized this drive with the American Red Cross’s Tennessee Valley Region to encourage more blood donations and thank our active-duty and retired military members for their service to the country. A person needs blood in America every two to three seconds, and each unit of donated blood can help three different patients.

MTSU donors can show their support for the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force or Coast Guard when they arrive to give blood. The branch with the largest number of donors will have bragging rights until the next veterans’ blood drive.

The MTSU community came out in force in February for a pre-Valentine’s Day blood drive, collecting 131 pints of blood in only six hours to share with the neighboring Tennessee Valley Region. A pre-Veterans Day drive last November at MTSU saw similar outstanding results.

MTSU’s Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center is the largest and most comprehensive facility for student veterans on any college campus in Tennessee. The 2,600-square-foot center, located in Room 124 of the Keathley University Center, provides a one-stop shop for a variety of academic needs for MTSU’s nearly 1,000 student veterans and their families.

For more information about the Daniels Veterans Center, visit www.mtsu.edu/military and follow @MTVetCenter on Twitter.

— Gina E. Fann (gina.fann@mtsu.edu)