According to the American Red Cross, in the U.S. every two seconds someone needs blood or platelets; students who volunteered for the blood drive this week saved countless lives.
“It’s a lifesaving event,” said Key Club advisor, Linda Craun. “There is no synthetic replacement for blood, and patients who need it have to have donors who support that.”
Although not all volunteers could donate, those who could, saved more than one life with their unit of blood.
“We only had 44 appointments and out of those 44 appointments 39 showed up,” said Craun. “That’s not good, there’s room for improvement.”
Hosted by Key Club, the blood drive collected 36 units of blood. There were 100 slots open for volunteers, but only 44 appointments were scheduled, and 39 actual donors. About a dozen members from Key Club volunteered, while the rest signed up during their lunches.
“It went very smoothly, and the committee’s organization was really top-notch,” said Craun.
With a committee of 15 members, senior Skylar Bakun was the leader of the organization. She handled checking-in volunteers and making sure donors didn’t leave without eating a snack and were fully recovered.
“They [the staff] were nice, really helpful,” said junior Julian Kinaya.
As far as the aftermath goes, the donors were well provided for. According to the donors, the staff was friendly and gave them good advice. They encouraged donors to take the snacks and drinks, provided by Key Club, before leaving and many of them recovered within five minutes.
“It helps a lot of people that need it, and it goes to a lot of good causes,” said Bakun. “The more we have, the more lives we can help.”
