A blood drive for students, faculty, and families will take place in the Octavia campus gym on Mar. 31. Hosted by Vitalant, all who are 16 or older are encouraged to take part.

“For the past 2 years, Amrita Rajpal and I have coordinated blood drives at school through Vitalant,” sophomore Sophie Levy said. “Since last year, we have luckily been able to increase the number of drives held in the school year — we can do this because of our donors — we have been able to collect more red blood cells, plasma, and blood than we expected,”

Students that are 16 or 17 must have a parent consent form signed, but are otherwise able to donate, as long as they meet the donor qualifications. Students who plan to donate are encouraged to review the Blood Donor Qualification list on the Vitalant website, along with arriving well hydrated and nourished. 

“Seeing students organize these types of events is really exciting,” freshman Franchesqa Landicho said. “Although I am not yet eligible to donate, I know that our community is making a difference by hosting these blood drives,”

In order to donate, students must weigh at least 110 pounds, be in good general health, and be hydrated while donating. More information can be found on the Vitalant website, according to sophomore Sophie Levy.

“I think that blood drives are really important, especially coming out of the pandemic,” Landicho said. “I know that so many people are positively affected by our donations,”

The drive will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. While the process takes approximately one hour, students receive 10 hours of service for donating, as well as an additional 2 hours for each adult who donates on a student’s behalf, according to an email sent about the drive.

“School donors have contributed in saving lives by taking just one hour out of their school day to help support our cause,” Levy said. “These drives really have impacted people in need and while we do coordinate them, this wouldn’t be possible without our donors.”