Baumer Hall, the newest men’s dorm on campus, is sponsoring a plasma drive called “Domers R Donors” to be held Wednesday from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the LaFortune Student Center ballroom.
Those who have tested positive for coronavirus in the last three months and have been symptom free for 14 days are eligible to donate, Baumer Hall president and first year Patrick Buck said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website, those who have contracted and recovered from COVID-19 have antibodies in their blood, specifically in their plasma, that can help treat people in the early stages of the virus.
“The hope is that anyone [who is eligible] will donate their plasma so that their antibodies can be used at local South Bend hospitals to help people who are fighting off the pandemic,” Buck said.
Anyone who is eligible to donate can sign up by calling 574-204-4466, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., to reserve a time slot.
Since Baumer Hall was built in the summer of 2019, the hall has not yet established a signature charity event. The Dillon Hall community was housed last year in Baumer during the renovation of their home dorm.
The idea for this charity event originated with Robert Duncheskie, a sophomore in Baumer Hall who said he wanted to make a difference despite the rising case numbers.
“As we’re a new dorm, we don’t have a traditional charity event,” Buck said. “We’re always encouraging our guys to come up with stuff, and [Duncheskie] took the lead on this and put in a ton of work.”
In an email, Duncheskie said he was inspired to find a way to make a positive impact when Notre Dame’s positive cases began to rise dramatically and many students feared getting sent home earlier this semester.
“I wanted to find a way to make the most of out of this unfortunate situation,” Duncheskie said. “I knew that there had to be a way to turn the pandemic into a positive change.”
Duncheskie said the event is an exciting step for the Baumer community.
“The Baumer Hall community is excited to sponsor this event, as it will be one of the dorm’s first major events since its creation,” he said.
Both Buck and Duncheskie said the event is important to help those in need and support the local community.
“Our local community is in serious need of plasma donations considering the number of new cases we see every day,” Duncheskie said. “The more plasma that is donated, the more that we can help the people of our community in this ongoing fight against COVID.”
Buck said the plasma drive is a way of putting the University’s call to be a “force for good” in action.
“This is a really great way to be that positive force,” Buck said. “Fifteen or 20 minutes of your time donating plasma is literally going to save somebody’s life. It’s a really easy thing to do for a person who’s tested positive for COVID. It’s a great way to give back to our South Bend community and help the local people here.”
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