Students make $200 a month by giving from the blood
Issue date: 10/2/02 Section: Features
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Donate plasma for money? As oxymoronic as that sounds, a handful of NGC students, and anyone else who is eligible to donate, can and do make almost $200 a month if they donate plasma regularly.
Students drive to Aventis Bio Center on Stone Avenue in Greenville as often as twice a week to donate their plasma, which, simply put, is the liquid part of blood.
Why do these students donate plasma?
Josh Cemelich, a junior Christian Studies major gives his reason for donating: "I'm just in it for the money."
Jeff Goolsby, a sophomore American Studies major also agrees, saying, "My number one objective is to make money, seeing how I don't have any."
"I make between $20-25 a donation, so my goal is making $200 a month donating all eight times a month," said Cemelich.
The amount of money varies according to special bonus money given on the 4th and 6th time, and on how much you weigh, because the payout is based on how much plasma you give. People weighing under 150 pounds get $17 per donation, people over 150 get $20 per donation.
Even though money draws most people to the center, there are other reasons that people donate aside from just making money. Students just enjoy the employees and the environment.
Cemelich described the employees as "friendly and interesting," and Cecil Newman, a junior Christian Studies major adds, "I really do enjoy getting to know the people that work there because they're a lot of fun."
So does it hurt?
"When the needle initially goes in your arm, I wouldn't call it painful, I'd call it extremely uncomfortable, but it only lasts a few seconds," said Newman.
Newman also said donating plasma "is not unpleasant in any way at all, it's like something I honestly enjoy doing, I don't mind the fact that they're putting a needle in me at all simply because I'm getting paid for it and it's cool, it's like I'm going to hang out with some people."
The potential side effects of donating plasma are similar to that of donating blood, which includes dizziness and fainting, but these are much less prevalent in plasma donations because you get back most of your blood, minus the plasma. "It's different for everybody, and it's not for everybody," said Kim Cayz, the director of corporate communications for Aventis centers across the US.
Almost anyone can donate plasma if they haven't had a tattoo or piercing within the last year, and haven't exposed themselves to precarious situations or people that could have given them an STD or AIDS. "We want plasma from healthy people," said Cayz. First time donors are given a series of questions and a light physical exam before they are eligible to donate. Aventis does tests on each door's plasma to ensure it meets their standards.
What do donors do during the plasma process?
"Altogether it's about a 2-hour process," said Cemelich, "but less than an hour in the chair."
"While I'm sitting in the chair, a lot of times I read books for class, or a lot of times you get to know the person sitting next to you can really get into their lives and see what's happening with them," said Goolsby. "So every time you walk into the plasma place you never know you you'll sit by and possibly get to witness to."
What do people think about donating plasma?
Student donors think it's a great way to earn extra money and have a good time doing it. Some do question the company's use of the term "donation" to describe the process though.
Goolsby elaborated on this, saying, "It's very lucrative. The way I see it, it's just like any other service you can offer to others, say if you're teaching kids, you know teachers aren't working for free, and that's a selling of themselves and they're making money, literally it is selling a service, it's really not a donation."
Newman's thoughts were that "it doesn't feel like a charity event because you are getting paid for it."
Although some student donors take a more business-oriented approach to donating, they realize the medically friendly side of it.
Cemelich takes a more nostalgic approach to it, saying, "There's always that feeling and reward knowing in the back of my mind that I'm helping save lives."
Other people look at it more critically. Goolsby explained, "I have one friend whose parents are irate about it, no, irate is too soft of a word, I would actually say they're livid."
Derek Donley, a freshman elementary education major whose parents do not want him to donate, said, "My parents would have no problem with me donating plasma, it's the me getting money part they have a problem with."
Nancy Shoemaker, mother of Donley from Brevard NC, explained her view of it: "Companies who pay you for your plasma are making a profit based on other peoples' needs, because of tragic circumstance; I don't think it's right."
What do they use it for?
Cayz explained that plasma is manufactured to make four types of products. Products from plasma are used to aid those with bleeding disorders like hemophilia, people with immune deficiency syndromes, people in emergency care situations, and finally it is used to help heal wounds.
Cayz also highlighted the need for regular donors. "You need to be a regular donor for us to actually use the plasma in the manufacturing process, which is why we want people to come back, and why we offer compensation."
What's the process of giving plasma? Plasmapheresis is the technical name, and is similar to donating blood. The main difference is that most blood components like red and white blood cells are returned to the donor.
A donor replenishes plasma in two days, therefore a donor may donate as often as twice a week. The amount of plasma a donor gives varies by weight: from around 700ml to 900ml.