More blood than blood bags was available at Tuesday’s American Red Cross blood drive sponsored by Alpha Phi Omega, a co-ed service fraternity.

The event, held in the University Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union, was originally to last from 1 to 7 p.m. but had to close down almost an hour early because of the overwhelming turn-out.

Organizers of the event were hoping for 75 people to donate blood and were prepared with 150 blood bags. The bags ran out well before the event was scheduled to end.

Anna Hills, vice president of Alpha Phi Omega and organizer of the event, said they doubled the goal.

Tracy Torbeck, recruitment representative for Red Cross, said, “We’ve well over-produced today.

“These (Eastern) students are awesome. I just love them. Students have come out here in droves to give blood. People say college students don’t care. Well, come to a blood drive and see how much they care.”

A serenity characterized the event as students reclined calmly on glorified lawn chairs, seemingly unaware of the bag beside them filling with their blood.

Several arms were raised in the air, allowing the blood to clot after the process, and several feet were raised in the air, keeping a few students from becoming too light-headed.

Dianna McMahan, a junior physical education major, said she wasn’t nervous about giving blood. “I try to think of all the people I’m helping,” she said.

Torbeck said every unit of blood has the potential to save three lives.

“The American Red Cross exists solely to collect, test, process and distribute blood products,” she said. “The bottom line is saving lives. That’s all we care about.”

The whole process took about 45 minutes, McMahan said.

Volunteers had to fill out a questionnaire, get their finger pricked to determine if the iron level in their blood was high enough to donate and then take a seat in a bed to have their blood drawn. The process of drawing blood took about 20 minutes.

Each donor had a different experience, some claiming it didn’t hurt at all and others saying they felt a slight pain throughout the process.

“It pinches a little, but it’s not bad,” said Matt Born, a freshman English major. He said he came because of the free t-shirt.

The t-shirt, emblazed with the slogan, “See Pete. See Pete drive. See Pete crash. For Pete’s sake, give blood,” was given to donors, along with Papa John’s pizza, Kool-Aid and other snacks.

Matt Sidarous, a freshman psychology major and first-time donor, admitted he was a little nervous, but he said it was a good experience.

“I feel better (now) than when I came in here,” he said.

The next blood drive will be held Oct. 11. To students nervous about donating blood, Born said, “Suck it up, and quit being a wuss.”

Jessica Craig, a volunteer and donor at the event, advised nervous students to “look past your fear and think about all the people you could help with your donation.”