By By Jared Shafran, News Staff

As part of the eighth annual Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Blood Challenge, Northeastern Athletics announced it will be holding a blood drive Monday, Nov. 2 in the Curry Student Center Ballroom from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The challenge began in 2002 amongst organization with league officials seeking to bring attention to the need for blood donations.
In 2008, 3,472 donors from the 12 CAA campuses volunteered to donate blood. According to the CAA website, in its previous seven years, the blood drive has raised a total of 17,728 units of blood which, has helped to save 53,184 lives.
The CAA school that has the most donors on their respective day is declared the challenge winner and the presented a trophy. In each of the last three years, the Drexel Dragons have taken home the title.
Last year, all the schools had at least 85 donors and half of the campuses collected more than 250 units of blood. The challenge was developed in 2002 by the league as a fun way to emphasize the critical importance of donating blood and is open to more than just students. Faculty, staff, and alumni are all also encouraged to participate.