Virtually no one on this campus knows Patty Collins, a 10-year old girl living in Seattle, but 30 students took time out of their day Tuesday to donate a pint of blood in her name.

The Arnold Air Society held a blood drive Tuesday as part of a nationwide effort to raise 1,000 pints of blood by Collins' 11th birthday later this month. The young girl is suffering from a rare form of liver cancer and her parents have asked their friends to organize these blood drives in her name, to help combat blood bank shortages in the U.S.

Junior Melissa Bouche, a member of the Arnold Air Society, organized the event, and said it was a success.

"Our goal was to have 25 people come," she said. "We were really pleased with all the participation we had."

Students actually had to be turned away at some points during the drive, which ran from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in LaFortune Student Center, because there were not enough nurses on duty to administer the donations.

"We turned down so many people," Bouche said. "It's too bad, but we didn't have enough facilities."

Some students signed up in advance, but word-of-mouth drew others to the drive, and many of those turned away were these walk-ins.

Nurses came from the South Bend Medical Foundation Blood Bank to draw the blood, and that organization will receive the donations.

Junior Eric Schearer, a blood donor and member of the Arnold Air Society, said that the experience was a worthwhile one.

"You give blood to help people who are diseased, and the parents of [Collins] wanted people to give blood in her name," he said. "It's a good thing."

Like the donors, the girl's parents are members of the Notre Dame community. Her father Bill graduated from the University in 1975, and her mother Kathy graduated from Saint Mary's in 1976.

Patty Collins was diagnosed with the cancer in September. Since then, she has had seven blood transfusions, Bouche said.

The drive came to Notre Dame through sophomore Peter Sweeney, a member of the Arnold Air Society and friend of the Collins family, according to Bouche. It was organized in the last two weeks.

There may be another blood drive in Patty's name next semester, Bouche said, but she encouraged students to donate now.

"You don't have to wait for the blood drive to come to you," she said. "Especially during the holiday season, that's when supplies are at their lowest."

Most people in good health who are more than 17 years old and weigh at least 110 pounds are eligible to give blood.

Students who would like to do so can contact the South Bend Medical Foundation Blood Bank Monday through Saturday downtown at 234-1157, or in Mishawaka at 273-8879.

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