The 17th drive of Dugong Atenista blood program pushed through on 15 August at Xavier Hall. With the addition of 315 donations, the program has reached its 4,000 donation mark. Now on its ninth year, Dugong Atenista has collected exactly 4,075 donations. About 80 percent of this figure comes from students.

The Office of Student Affairs (OSA), the program organizer, now looks at 2016 being the 10th year of Dugong Atenista. Having sustained the program for almost a decade now, OSA considers it not only a life-saving program but also a culture bearer of Ateneo, given its popularity and its impact on the formation on student donors. Many alumni who were once donors still come to school every semester to participate in the bloodletting activities.

Since the launching of Dugong Atenista in 2007, the program has grown in both number of donors and content. Every year, the number of donors increases, both for repeat and first-time donors. They are well-profiled and documented by OSA in its newly developed information system. Outside the semestral donations, OSA also processes requests for blood donations during emergencies.

The OSA also conducts formative processing session for students after each bloodletting activity. Here, the students’ motivations and experience in donating are revisited and deepened.

The OSA has partnered with the Bicol Medical Center, where the donated blood are stored and used, and the College of Nursing. Students and clinical instructors in this college regularly assist the BMC in the donation procedures.

The office also tapped student organizations like the Ateneo College Red Cross Youth and Media Studies Society in the promotion and documentation of the most recent blood drive.

The next blood drive is scheduled on 6 February 2016.