The staff and students ages 16 or older participated in the annual blood drive on Thursday, December 14 in the North Gym.

Organized and sponsored by Student Council and Community Blood Services, the annual blood drive was a massive success. By fifth period there had already been about 220 people that donated, which was more in total than the last few years of the blood drive.

Those who were eligible to donate were first seated and one pint of blood was taken from them. Then the nurses used iodine to clean, and the student was sent off to the refreshment center with cookies and juice to make sure they felt healthy and safe.   

An easy way for students to keep their minds off of the needle was how the machine works while they donated.“The machine works by separating your blood into three bags, platelets, plasma, and just whole blood,” said history teacher Joseph Turso. “It breaks it up and pumps the rest back into so you don’t feel any ill effects like dropping [blood] pressure.”

Following the donation, both nurses and student council members continuously asked people that donated how they felt and if they experienced any dizziness. They ate sugary foods and beverages like donuts and juice before being sent back to class.

The senior class President, Jordyn Lopresti, was seated outside of the North Gym throughout the day. “When people go to the bathroom we have people walk them there just in case, this is a really good thing and we have to make sure everyone stays safe.”

Along with a safe procedure during the actual blood drive,  students considering donating were given in-depth paperwork that they filled out weeks before. Certain regulations such as being over 110 pounds, being generally healthy and having parental consent were extremely important and taken seriously.

Once given the clear, students generously donated their blood to help people in need. Sophomore Leah Rodgers told the Patriot Press her reason for donating: “Such a simple act by giving blood can help save three lives. I’m healthy and able to donate my blood to others so I don’t see why I wouldn’t do such a simple thing to help others.”

Donating blood is a simple way to make a huge impact on the lives of the people that need it. Students are eager to donate again for the next blood drive and student council thanks them for their help.