Blood Drive helps students save lives

For many people, saving a life is a notable goal on their bucket list, and through the blood drive held at Bettendorf High School, this goal has become an accomplishment for donors.

While this spring’s blood drive on May 7, 2019, brought in many donors, there were some factors that made it slower than previous blood drives. Spring sports are in full swing, and with practices or meets every day, athletes are not able to donate as the Mississippi Regional Blood Center recommends that donors do not participate in athletics for 24 hours after giving.

Additionally, people who signed up for the blood drive and then went outside of the U.S. or Canada for spring break were not able to donate, to prevent diseases that could be in their blood. Finally, with AP testing taking place all week, many students were not present to give blood. However, the Mississippi Regional Blood Center was still able to draw in many donations.

“I’m so proud of my committee for putting in so much work to set up this opportunity for students to save lives. It was a little slower than the others, but we’ve still got a lot of people coming in,” said Aidan Goerdt, chair of the blood drive committee.

“The blood drive is a great way to get involved in your community, because one pint is three lives saved. It ran really smoothly today; we only had one passout,” said StuCo member Annika Braaten.

To aid in providing the opportunity for students to give blood, attendance secretary Melissa Laufenberg made sure students would have time to donate while still in school. Passes were sent out days before the blood drive by the StuCo blood drive committee, with a time during the school day for students to donate.

“I checked kids in and out at the blood drive,” said Laufenberg. “I made sure everyone could do their part, but also get time in class.”

Blood drives are held every eight weeks, as that is how often people are eligible to donate. The requirements to donate are to be 17 years old, or 16 with parental consent, over 110 pounds, and to be healthy on the day of donation.

“I would recommend that anyone eligible should give it a try; it’s not nearly as scary as it seems,” said Laufenberg.