ROSEBURG, Oregon – Umpqua Community College (UCC) student volunteers continue to make a difference in our community and beyond; and their service continues to be noticed. As ASUCC’s Share the Love luncheon took place on Valentine’s Day, Anisha Wikstrom, a UCC student and the organizer and recruiter for the campus’ quarterly blood drives, was presented with an award from the American Red Cross.

Valerie Gordon (above right) made a special trip to UCC to present Wikstrom with an award for the College’s participation in the 10th Annual National Cesar E. Chavez Blood Drive Challenge. From these blood drives, UCC collected a total of 139 units of blood. The College placed 18th out of the 68 colleges nationwide that participated in the challenge. Additionally, UCC was the only college in the Pacific Northwest to receive an award.

This is definitely not a one-person job and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the UCC scholars, Wikstrom said. Those contributing UCC scholars being; Adrianna Barone, Baily Logsdon, Gunnar Campman, Minah Kim, and Quita Hashings. I’m shocked because we didn’t know we’d win this.

According to the Red Cross, one pint of blood can save three lives. The amount UCC helped the organization collect in 2018 equated to saving 417 lives.

We will continue to partner with Umpqua Community College and hope we can see you all at future blood drives, Gordon said, while giving the award to Wikstrom.

The next blood drive UCC will be hosting takes place in April. This blood drive will be a part of the 11th Annual National Cesar E. Chavez Blood Drive Challenge.

About Umpqua Community College

Nestled in the beautiful North Umpqua River Valley, Umpqua Community College is the regional center for higher education in Douglas County, Oregon. UCC provides high quality college degree programs, workforce development, and community learning opportunities.