Cal Poly Pomona and Mt. Sac face off in a competitive blood drive, April 7-9
In what has become tradition, the students of Mt. San Antonio College are squaring off against the students of Cal Poly Pomona for Out for Blood, a competition to see which campus can donate the most blood during an academic year.
In October, the schools held the first of the drives for this academic year and the Walnut school beat Cal Poly Pomona, 212 units to 208.
It's not all about the competition, though. Together, the colleges collected enough blood to touch 1,260 lives.
From April 7-9, the schools' students will extend their arms for the next battle.
The incentive for participants is "just the satisfaction of knowing that you have done something good," said Maryann Tolano-Leveque, who organizes the blood drive for Mt. SAC.
Of course, there's also a trophy and bragging rights.
"At Mt. SAC, our clubs get involved in getting the word out," Tolano-Leveque said.
And good humor doesn't get lost in the intense competition.
Both Tolano-Leveque and Debbie Jackley, her counterpart at Cal Poly, recall students arriving to the competition in costume – as drops of blood.
The first year, the schools tied.
The second, Cal Poly came out on top. So far this year, Mt. SAC is holding the lead.
