The University of Arkansas at Little Rock community has the chance to save lives by participating in a Halloween Blood Drive. 

UALR’s Staff Senate will host the blood drive from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, Oct. 31, in the Commons Great Room. All UALR employees and students are invited.

The American Red Cross has an emergency need for people to donate platelets. More than 100 blood drives throughout the southeastern United States were canceled due to Hurricane Matthew.

The first 25 people to sign up to give blood will receive a goodie bag. All donors will be entered into a drawing for two tickets to any Trojans basketball game in December and a stainless steel insulated tumbler provided by Trojan Athletics and the UALR Alumni Association.

All participants are invited to dress up for the costume contest. The Office of Campus Living will host a pizza party for the dormitory floor with the most donors.

To schedule an appointment, visit www.redcrossblood.org and enter sponsor code: UALR; email Dara Goad at dkgoad@ualr.edu; or use the new Red Cross Blood App.  

In order to reduce waiting time by up to 15 minutes, complete all pre-appointment reading and donation questions online by visiting the RapidPass website on the day of the drive.

UALR Staff Senate partners with the American Red Cross, the nation’s largest blood bank. All the blood donations at the UALR drive are earmarked for Pulaski County hospitals. However, the blood will be available to those throughout Arkansas and the nation should the need arise.

For more information about the blood drive, contact the Staff Senate at staffsenate@ualr.edu. For more information about the American Red Cross and blood donation, visit the American Red Cross website. 

In the upper right photo, a University of Arkansas at Little Rock student donates blood during a Staff Senate Blood Drive. Photo by Lonnie Timmons III/UALR Communications.