Nearly 70 West Virginia University fans showed their Mountaineer spirit and helped save lives by donating blood Nov. 28 at WVU s Erickson Alumni Center.

The Backyard Brawl Blood Driveorganized with the American Red Cross and held in conjunction with the recent WVU -University of Pittsburgh football gamewas sponsored by the Sport Management Club in the WVU School of Physical Education and the Mountaineer Maniacs.

The effort that members of the Sport Management Club and Mountaineer Maniacs contributed to making this blood drive a tremendous success is due in large part to their commitment to community service,said Floyd Jones, associate professor of sport management.These students are committed when it comes to making a positive difference in the community.

Blood drives for the American Red Cross took place on both the WVU and University of Pittsburgh campuses around the time of the Backyard Brawl. WVU students collected 108 units of blood; Pitts total was 102 units, said Adam Reaves, American Red Cross Donor Resources field representative for WVU .

All the groups worked very hard these past few weeks, and it showed,Reaves said.The 108 units the Sport Management Club and Mountaineer Maniacs collected have the potential to save 324 lives.

The event was successful because students did great volunteer work,added Zach Eckert, WVU Sport Management Club president.The Red Cross staff did a fantastic job of keeping things moving at a steady pace and comforting the donors.

Blood drives are planned throughout the year on the WVU campus. In addition to the student organizations involved in the Backyard Brawl event, many other student groups such as Greek organizations and service clubs, as well as University schools and units, regularly sponsor drives.

For information on how to donate blood, visit /www.redcrosslife.org.