Blood drive success at SHS
Written by Lanesha Reagan, Former Student on Thursday, March 21, 2013
Every year Snohomish High School hosts multiple blood drives so students can help victims of car accidents, cancer, and many other diseases. A single donation of blood from a student can save up to three lives. This year's two day drive 170 pints of blood was collected. Of those donations, 122 came from first time donors according to JROTC Instructor Capt. William Lennon.
On March 5th and 6th many students were excused from class so that they could have the chance to save someone’s life. According to the Red Cross 5 million or more people will be in need of a blood transfusion this year, and without the selfless donation from donors all over America many people would die. This year's drive will benefit 510 lives according to the Puget Sound Blood Center.
Junior Kayla Grundl thought that even though she felt a little awkward it was worth it because, “[she] wanted to save life’s and [she] thought it would be a fun experience.”
The Red Cross states that the reason most people don’t donate blood is because they simply “never thought about” or they “don’t like needles.” However unless ones pain tolerance is very low, most people that donate barley feel the needle at all. Junior Jake Hammond said that, “It wasn’t bad, like a hard pinch.”
Without donors like Grundl and Hammond many people would not be able to survive after a tragedy. With millions of people each year needing new blood everyday, if not every few hours the need for blood donors is continually getting higher.
The next blood drive SHS will hold won’t be for a few months however there will be another drive at the Regency Care Center in Monroe March 28th and another April 6th at Valley General Hospital also in Monroe.
Grundl is urging students to donate as soon as they can, “Just do it! Even if you’re scared, it’s a good experience and you will be saving someone’s life.”
Hammond later added on that, “It was a great experience and I would recommend it to anyone who loves helping others, or loves getting cookies!”
