Clemson vs Carolina blood drive saves tens of thousands of lives [Video]

When Clemson and Carolina take to Frank Howard Field on Clemson's Memorial Stadium for Saturday's rivalry matchup, fans will see a real powerhouse on the field... and that's at halftime. Weeks before celebrating her 89th birthday, Barbara Cartwright will be invited to the field at halftime to be recognized for founding the "Blood Bowl" 40 years ago. One week before the football teams go head to head, students at both universities go "arm to arm", rolling up their sleeves to donate blood in a competition that's come to be known as the "Blood Bowl". The Blood Connection and the Red Cross come to both campuses in what has become one of the largest blood donation events in the country.Collections are estimated to be over 180-thousand pints of blood over the past four decades, and it all started with an idea from Barbara Cartwright.She was working as a technician for what has now become "The Blood Connection", and noticed that donations tended to fall off in late November as regular blood donors got busy with the holidays. The Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity at Clemson University had already jumped in with Barbara as a sponsor for her bi-annual blood drives, so when she proposed that Clemson challenge rival USC to a blood drive a week ahead of the big football game, the students were All In!"The fact that they have continued to be the sponsors all these decades later really tells you how dedicated that service fraternity is to the mission of blood donation", says Cartwright, "it was up to APO to get the word out and they did, that very day of the first year of the competition we had 700 donors on the first day!"Jack McKenzie says it was all Barbara's idea and the students ran with it! He joined APO in 1973, his sophomore year, and after graduating became the service fraternity's advisor. He remembers the students affection for Barbara and their deep commitment to increasing blood donations and beating Carolina! "Barbara came to the students and asked if they would like to lead a challenge with USC like a One Drive competition, and they loved the idea, "says McKenzie, "getting the authorization at the university level was easy with President Walter Cox who was on board from the outset."Reflecting on the magnitude of what these Clemson and Carolina students have been able to accomplish in four decades is almost daunting to McKenzie, "each donation can help up to three people, so that's more than half a million people who've been helped or had their lives saved from these donations."And Cartwright says the timing was so crucial for keeping the state's blood supply filled , "when we were able to draw on those dates right before the rivalry game in late November, that gave us enough blood to last us into Christmas." So, at halftime on Saturday, a giant will take the field!The mother of two and grandmother of two will step onto the field for recognition of one of the most successful blood drives ever initiated. She says she wants everyone to know that she will be representing generations of Clemson APO service fraternity members, and generations of Clemson and Carolina students, who dedicated themselves to service to others.To see more of Barbara Cartwright's story please click on the link above.

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