Some students would do anything to get an iPod, and some blood centers that need younger donors are hoping that "anything" includes giving blood.

The American Red Cross Blood Services Badger-Hawkeye Region, which serves areas of Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and Michigan, recently began raffling off items such as $25 gas cards, Rolling Stones concert tickets and iPods.

"The raffles attract younger, first time donors," said Janna Lenz, a spokeswoman for the Badger-Hawkeye Region. Attracting a younger audience is important because blood centers need a stable, ongoing group of donors to continually provide donations.

Raffling at the Badger-Hawkeye Region blood donor facilities is not a totally new concept.

In the past, the facilities had raffles during special blood drives, especially around the holidays. But Lenz said the facilities started to raffle off items this summer as well.

"Younger, potential donors are more likely to donate if they get something in return," Lenz said.

Their first items were gas cards. With high gas prices, the region hoped the gas cards would attract more potential donors.

The Badger-Hawkeye Region facilities are following a national trend; the Red Cross in Kansas City, Mo., has raffled iPods as well, and in New England the blood centers and the Boston Red Sox have begun working together to increase donations by recognizing a blood donor on the field before games.

However, not all centers feel the need to use incentives.

The BloodCenter of Wisconsin, which is based in Milwaukee, has always done raffles during the holidays. They do not plan on doing any other sorts of raffles. Center spokeswoman Crystal McNeal said "the center does not feel that incentives are necessary" and that people donate "from the goodness of their own hearts."

When asked if the centers have had a higher demand for blood in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, both women said there hasn't been a greater demand from their centers, but should the time come, they are more than ready to help out.

Lenz, from the Badger-Hawkeye Region blood center, said that blood donated stays within the community in which it was donated. It goes to hospitals in the area, and if more is needed elsewhere, the Red Cross knows which centers have an abundance of each blood type.

Blood drives are a regular occurrence on the Marquette campus. The Residence Hall Association sponsors two drives a year and each residence hall independently runs one every year.

Mike Neiduski, a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences, is in charge of the blood drives put on by the RHA.

"Marquette has always reached its goal at the blood drives," but "Book Marq is going to raffle off $400 worth of books," Neiduski said.

That raffle is scheduled for the end of the semester, according to Dave Konkol, the manager of BookMarq. Students at each of the individual drives throughout the semester can enter in raffle for that grand prize, as well as individual prizes such as sweatshirts, hats, or mugs at each individual blood drive.

The first RHA blood drive this year will be held on Sept. 26 from 2 to 7 p.m. in AMU 227.

This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on September 20, 2005.