On Tuesday Aprill 11th the Evergreen Student Council held their annual spring blood drive in the gymnasium at Evergreen High School. For many students this is their first opportunity to give back to the community. The Student Council holds two blood drives each school year, one in the fall and then again in the spring. This year the council consists of 27 students and are under the guidance of Jenny Dicken, a social studies teacher.
The students sign up to help during class periods which results in about 10-12 students in the gym helping at a time. Jobs for the students include assisting the Red Cross members in set up and clean up, handling donor registration, running the snack table, and also escorting students to and from their classes. Sometimes they are also called upon just to be their to comfort a student who may be nervous while they’re giving blood commented Dicken “Sometimes it’s just helpful for a student to have classmate there with them”. This blood drive was a closed drive, meaning only Evergreen High School students could donate. With a goal of 31 units, the Evergreen students surpassed that by giving 32 units during the five hour event.
Deanna Goss of the Toledo Red Cross commented about the ongoing need for blood donors, “Coming off of the winter months when donations are generally down, and with increase of automobile accidents this time of year in the area, that increases the need right now, but ultimately we are always in need of donors”. Some donors may be what they call a “double donor”. In this process, you are hooked up to a machine that filters out your red blood cells and pumps the rest (plasma, platelets, etc.) back into your arm. This allows them to take twice as many red blood cells compared to the regular whole blood process.
If you would like to donate or are interested in learning more about the donation process, contact your local Red Cross to find out about blood drives in your area.