Donors at the American Red Cross blood drive that was held on Wednesday, February 20, in the small gym gave a total of 64 units of blood. The blood will be able to help up to 192 patients. The blood drive, run by the Student Government Association (SGA), had to be organized in a short period of time because it was originally going to take place in late March. A conflict at a Lee County high school resulted in the school having to postpone its blood drive, and the Red Cross was depending on the drive to replenish its blood levels.
According to Caroline Allison, a Red Cross donor recruitment worker, the Red Cross had “blood types at urgent and emergency levels, and [it could not] afford to lose this drive.” Allison and the SGA worked together to quickly set up and register donors for the OHS drive, deciding to hold it earlier so the Red Cross could receive the blood it would have received from the Lee County drive.
On the day of the blood drive, students came in during first, second, and third period to donate. Many of the donors did not sign up for the drive in advance. Donors had to meet certain height, weight, and age requirements, meaning some aspiring donors were unable to donate. Anyone who has recently traveled out of the country to a location where malaria is found could not donate.
Blake Hall, a senior who donated blood during the drive, stated, “Giving single is fairly quick and easy. Doubles, however, is long. I like
the feeling of doubles because it's an odd feeling. They put fluids back in your body. Some people don’t like that though and it does require a lot of patience.” Hall said that he would “definitely [give blood] again.”
SGA members believed the blood drive was successful. Haley Moser, a junior in SGA, thought that a “lot of people... signed up. [There was a] good turnout for how quickly we had to put it together.”
Dmetrius Jones, a sophomore in SGA, stated, “It’s a success. Compared to last year, we’ve grown and improved a lot more. We’ve got a lot of donors even though it was last minute.”
Hall, who is president of the SGA, stated, “We were worrying that it would be a mess, but people came out last minute and we had a lot of donors.” Nycol Lyons, a junior in SGA who helped with the blood drive in the morning and in every class period, called the blood drive “stressful but successful.”
0 comments