For more than 20 years Student Council (StuCo) has hosted the American Red Cross blood drive at the high school. This blood drive gives students ages 16 and up the opportunity to donate blood to people in need.

“It is a chance for the high schoolers to donate and give back to the community. When we are here, at school, it is more difficult to do that, so having it here [on campus] in a place that is possibly more welcoming and friendly for students to come donate, is great,” senior StuCo student body president Kate Sebes said.

Although the blood drive is only a one-day event, there are many hours of work and planning that goes into preparing and prepping the school.

“We have to email and coordinate back and forth [with the American Red Cross] and they really just give us a checklist of what we have to do. We have to think of like tables and and chairs and fans for people because it gets really hot, especially when people are donating blood they tend to pass out. We have to think through food and then go through the whole sign up process,” Sebes said.

Not only does StuCo prepare for American Red Cross to come, they also work on helping to keep students’ bodies healthy and alert throughout the experience, as drawing a pint of blood can often lead to students losing consciousness.

According to Sebes this year the number of kids who passed out while getting their blood drawn dropped significantly. This is due to the precautions that StuCo and American Red Cross have taken. These precautions include keeping students hydrated, offering juice to the morning donors to keep up their blood sugar level, and ensuring students ate lunch beforehand to get enough nutrients in their body.

“I think that it’s a good opportunity for kids our age to volunteer because we’re young and healthy. It is something that we can do to help the community,” Sebes said. “People can get there and donate blood and that difference can save someone’s life. It’s as simple as that.”

This year the blood drive had approximately 52 student-donors with a goal of receiving 47 units of blood. Although there was 52 students able to donate, the blood drive workers saw about 75 students. Despite their desire to donate, many students were turned away due to not meeting certain criteria including weight and/or the appropriate iron count.

For the students who were able to donate, American Red Cross staff worked to make the students feel safe and help to relieve some nerves that many students naturally have surrounding the thought of giving blood.

“I had this guy named Logan. He was hilarious. Honestly, he was the only reason I did it. He was really good,” junior Chandler Buffalo said.

Although the workers proved to be beneficial in helping students, many students also brought a friend for a little bit of moral support, distraction and company while they had their blood drawn.

“Meya held my hand the whole time. It wasn’t scary I just worked myself up. But I feel better now knowing that I helped someone’s life. I will probably do it again next year,” Buffalo said.