Students donated blood on Oct. 12-13 to support Blood for Missions and Free Wheelchair Mission.| Tyler Otte/THE CHIMES

Blood is one of the most common ways people choose to help their community. But the lack of wheelchairs for the poor is a problem that is usually overlooked in terms of fundraisers. The blood drive that happened this week at Biola combined the two needs into one effective campaign. From Oct. 12 to 13, students from all over campus flocked to the lobby of Horton Hall for their chance to help others in need.

The drive was hosted by Blood For Missions and Free Wheelchair Mission. Blood For Missions is a non-profit that organizes blood drives in order to raise funds that go toward work in the mission field. Free Wheelchair Mission, based in Costa Mesa, Calif., provides wheelchairs for people in poverty-stricken areas who could not otherwise afford them.

For this specific drive, Free Wheelchair Mission covered half the cost of each wheelchair, while Blood For Missions donated $32 per blood donor toward the purchase of the chairs. As a result, for every person who donates blood, one wheelchair is given to someone in need. Over the past two years, the joint effort of the two groups has raised more than $150,000.

Blood drive hosted in Horton instead of Caf, AS conference room

While the blood drives held by local hospitals are usually set up in the Caf Banquet Room, Blood For Missions typically uses the AS conference room. However, due to difficulty in booking the conference room, the drive was moved to Horton Hall.

“Kyle [Wormser] and Katie [Powell], the Horton RDs, were more than gracious in offering to host the blood drive here,” said Micah Mann, the founder of Blood For Missions, adding that setting up an event like that in a residence hall required a lot of inconvenience on the part of Horton’s staff.

The next opportunity for Biola students and staff to donate blood through Blood For Missions will be Dec. 6-8.