You may recall my recent column asking the community to “bleed blue” to help Middle Tennessee State University save lives and win the annual blood-drive competition against Western Kentucky University.

If you rolled up your sleeves and donated, thank you. If you tried to donate and were deferred, thank you. If you wanted to donate, but your schedule didn’t permit you to during the three-day event on campus, thank you, too.

Thank you for not donating? Sure. Thank you for considering it.

You made an effort, but life got in the way. Term papers are due, work schedules change, kids and pets get sick, and cars quit.

Hurricanes come.

So, do tornadoes, and fires, floods and traffic accidents.

The serious side of the blood drive competition was brought into even sharper focus on the very first day, when Superstorm Sandy began terrorizing the East Coast.

States in her path had to cancel scheduled blood drives, slashing much-needed collection efforts. People in those states were hurt and needed blood products.

Earlier this week, the MTSU community and our friends up at Western, which beat us for the first time, were able to help replenish blood supplies in the Southeast with 1,255 units of blood. Some of that Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky blood may be headed to the east and north to save lives, too.

The American Red Cross is asking donors across the nation to continue rolling up their sleeves, now and for the next few weeks, to send blood products to the eastern half of the country. That will rebuild supplies for emergencies like traffic accidents, tornadoes and hurricanes, as well as scheduled medical procedures.

So, now’s your chance, if you weren’t able to directly help “bleed blue” at MTSU.

Visit www.redcrossblood.org to find information on making an appointment to donate blood at your convenience, as well as on other local blood drives that fit your schedule.

If you’re can’t donate blood, ask your friends, family, neighbors and co-workers to donate for you. In fact, encourage them to donate anyway.

You also can donate funds to help the Red Cross’s emergency efforts.

Visit Rutherford County’s operations, the Heart of Tennessee Chapter for more details.

The need is always there.

Fortunately, so are MTSU’s neighbors, supporters and friends. And it doesn’t take a special competition to bring us together to do good for each other.