{"id":13057,"date":"2021-03-22T16:10:52","date_gmt":"2021-03-22T21:10:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/?p=13057"},"modified":"2021-03-22T16:10:53","modified_gmt":"2021-03-22T21:10:53","slug":"donate-plasma-to-get-cash-and-help-the-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/archives\/13057","title":{"rendered":"Donate Plasma to Get Cash and Help the Community"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Kassidy Hart–<\/strong>College students are always looking for ways to make easy money \u2013 and Morningside students are no strangers to the stereotype. One way that students have accomplished this, while also receiving intrinsic rewards, is through their choice to donate plasma. One of Sioux City\u2019s plasma service facilities, BioLife Plasma, has seen a large number of college-age people participate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cDonating plasma is a voluntary action and in line with industry practice. BioLife compensates individuals who donate in recognition of the time, commitment, and effort required,\u201d BioLife Communications Lead Alicia Highlander said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To donate plasma, students must meet a few eligibility requirements: they must be at least 18 years old, weigh no less than 110 pounds, and undergo a physical examination on their first visit. After they are verified to have met the criteria, healthy participants can partake in the plasmapheresis process as much as twice in a seven-day period, with one day between donations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMany of the therapies [for people around the world with rare, life-threatening diseases] can only be made from human plasma, as it cannot be manufactured in a lab or other artificial environment, meaning those who rely on plasma-derived therapies are dependent on people to regularly donate,\u201d Highlander said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many Morningside students, including athletes, have begun to regularly donate plasma and making pretty good money from it. Freshman Caleb Watson, a Morningside Wrestler, has been donating twice a week for a month while on his off-season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA friend of mine on the wrestling team told me about it and it feels good to save a life while making money doing it,\u201d Watson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Junior Ashley Wilcox, a Morningside Lacrosse player, also heard about the opportunity through another student who donates. She usually will donate twice a week but has had to pause while she is in the lacrosse season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt pays well per hour and is virtually painless. It\u2019s low effort, you can read or do homework while donating, it\u2019s like a free check-up every week, and it\u2019s close to campus. Plus, the staff there is super friendly, and they will remember your name and things about you from previous conversations,\u201d Wilcox said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Wilcox has found the process rewarding and would encourage other students to donate, she does understand that, for some, there could be negatives to the experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt does usually take an hour or two [to donate] so if you don\u2019t have much time, it\u2019s tough to find time to go. You also need to make sure you\u2019re drinking enough water and eating the right food and you can\u2019t do any heavy lifting or activities afterwards,\u201d Wilcox said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Freshman Kayla Eilander, a Morningside Track and Field runner, donated a couple times but had a poor experience with donating the last time she went in and has not been back since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI got super dizzy during the process and passed out, so they had to stop and reinsert the needle in my other arm to give me my blood back,\u201d Eilander said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The experience is different for everyone and this is something that students should understand when they begin to consider donating. Although there can be a potential risk, it is low and many students have shown to actually enjoy the experience overall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re hesitant, you should know the process \u2013 a simple, low-risk process \u2013 has been around for decades. We encourage all those who donate, or who are interested to do so, to learn more about how their plasma can help many people in many different circumstances whose lives may be at risk,\u201d Highlander said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donations are lower than usual right now, due to the pandemic and demand for plasma-derived therapies growing worldwide, so the need for human plasma is more urgent than ever. If you are interested in donating plasma and making some extra money, BioLife encourages students to sign up via their website, www.biolifeplasma.com<\/a>, or by downloading the BioLife App. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Kassidy Hart–College students are always looking for ways to make easy money \u2013 and Morningside students are no strangers to the stereotype. One way that students have accomplished this, while also receiving intrinsic rewards, is through their choice to donate plasma. One of Sioux City\u2019s plasma service facilities, BioLife Plasma, has seen a large…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":13059,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4287],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13057"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13057\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13060,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13057\/revisions\/13060"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}