Just before Valentine’s Day, Missouri Southern students gave life straight from their heart.

“(Giving blood) saves lives,” said Sheila Hart, assistant professor of nursing. “We like to be involved in our community.”

National statistics from the American Red Cross show that in the United States someone needs blood every two seconds, and the amount of blood on hold is limited.

“Blood only has a shelf life of 42 days,” said Haley Willis, Donor Recruitment Representative of Southwest Mo., “And we only have about a three-day stock on hand.”

For this drive, Southern has two on-campus organizations partnering to support the blood drive.

“We joined up with Sigma Pi and the Baptist Student Union (BSU),” Hart said. “This is the first time the three have joined together to do this.”

In previous years, there have been two separate blood drives on campus by the BSU and Student Nurse Association (SNA), but the response has been good enough for the groups to pull together.

“This year,” said Christy Smothers, president of SNA, “We want 80 units. Hospitals rely on our blood; we have to do this.”

The American Red Cross hopes to bring in “good units.” Every person gives one unit, and the drive usually brings in more than 80 pints, but sometimes the blood is rejected.

“If the criteria isn’t met that the Red Cross wants, then (a person) can’t give their blood,” Hart said.

Criteria that exclude a person from being eligible to give blood include travel to malaria ridden areas in the past year, recent antibiotic usage, and anemia.

Other exclusions are listed on a Red Cross questionnaire that must be taken before giving blood.

People could be exempt from the questionnaire if they have given blood to the American Red Cross prior to the Feb.13 event.