The American Red Cross blood drive today will see some familiar faces, including Wilbur, Wilma and UA football players and coaches.

The drive goes from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Student Union Memorial Center South Ballroom.

They are hoping to get about 250 pints of blood at today’s blood drive. Each donation is one pint.

The Southern Arizona American Red Cross has a goal of getting 300 pints of blood per day for Southern Arizona, which “”adequately supplies community hospitals,”” according to Cori Friezen, donor recruitment representative for American Red Cross Arizona region.

Every donor will receive a free pair of flip-flops, and Zona Zoo members can receive 12 points for donating but must bring their CatCards.

There will also be prize giveaways ever hour and 25 minutes in honor of the UA’s 125th birthday, which is today. Prizes include T-shirts from Associated Students of the University of Arizona and the athletic department, game room discount cards and movie theater discounts.

Wilbur and Wilma will be there from 8 to 9 a.m. Players and coaches from the football team will be there from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. thanking students for donating.

“”We’re hoping that with all the incentives that are happening and just the fun and environment of it, it’ll entice a lot of people to come out,”” Friezen said. “”We’re bringing a lot more staff and equipment than we ever have at the U of A, so we’re going to try to make it extremely easy and convenient for people to kind of just get in and get out with the donation process.””

Friezen urges students to drink lots of water and eat a good meal before donating.

“”Without blood drives, we can’t provide enough blood for the hospitals,”” Friezen said. “”U of A has been such a great supporter and partner with us. The majority of the time, we are highly successful when we come to the university because of the students and great faculty and staff that are able to give up a little bit of their time to come and donate.””