Students participate in school blood drive
Blood drive provides students with an alternative donation option
Ray O'Connor
Junior Jade Despanie and Senior Elias Garvey help set up the blood drive. The event was held in the Stuart Hall gym.
February 7, 2019
WEB EXCLUSIVE Over 20 students signed up to participate in the school blood drive for Vitalant, a blood service provider.
“I think our school’s focus on service, volunteering, and the community encourages more participation in fundraisers, donation drives, and other service-oriented activities,” senior Wellsley Cohen, who is donating said.
Students aged 16 or older were allowed to participate in the drive anytime from 9 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. If under the age of 18, students were required to bring parental consent form.
“A very big problem that I have talked to many people about is how they do not donate blood because they think it is hard to do,” freshman James O’Leary, who organized the blood drive said. “Many of those kids would never donate blood if it was not available here on campus, and those are donations we would not get otherwise.”
O’Leary plans to continue organizing the drive, making it an annual event. Students may also visit Vitalant at its two locations in the City — 270 Masonic Ave. and 250 Bush St. — to donate blood.
“We are raising awareness that giving blood is an option that youth can do,” Service Learning Director Ray O’Connor said. “We are trying to get that into their consciousness because we never get enough donations.”
Students were able to give two types of donations — whole blood and double red cells. The duration of appointments ranged from 15 minutes to 45 minutes.
“While researching how donor blood gets used, I saw that one blood donation could save up to three lives, and all it costs me is 10 to 15 minutes of my time,” Cohen said. “I think that is a pretty low price to pay to save someone else’s life.”
