Hospitals Need Blood, So Organize a Drive in Your School
This morning, I went over to the NJ Blood Center building in New Brunswick to donate blood. Although I didn't donate regularly for a few years, I'm now donating every 10 to 12 weeks.
While I was sitting there, I thought about the first time I donated blood - when my high school hosted a blood drive my senior year. Why don't more high schools do this?
Here a few interesting facts from the NJ Blood Center:
- 4.5 million people annually have their lives saved by blood transfusions
- One pint of blood can help as many as three people
- Blood must be used within 42 days of being collected
- 60% of the US population is eligible to donate blood. Only 5% do so annually.
- 17% of people who don't donate say they "Never thought about it."
Blood is in high demand, and that demand will never go away. The only way to keep a full supply of blood in American hospitals is to have a population that is willing to regularly donate blood.
And one of the biggest reasons people don't donate is because they never thought about it.
High schools can help stop this trend by holding blood drives in the spring, when many upper-classmen have turned 17. If people are introduced to blood donation while they're young, they're more likely to continue to donate when they're older.
Chances are there is a blood center in your state or in a local community near you that can do the physical blood collection. The school's job is simply to encourage people to come and donate - teachers, students, and community members.
Organizing a blood drive is a great way for students to get involved in community service and gain experience planning and managing a project. The website mybloodyourblood.org has information to help you organize a blood drive in your school, including this list of jobs that teachers and students would need to do.
If you need help finding your local blood center, head over to America's Blood Center. They host a list of local blood centers in the United States and Canada.
Although you could do all of the work yourself, it's a great opportunity to involve student organizations. This would be a good job for the student council, peer leaders, or other "leadership" group in your school.
I'm an adviser for the Peer Leadership program in our school, and I'm planning on trying to get them involved in planning a blood drive for April or May.
People need blood, and if you're eligible to donate... why not? Better yet, get other people - young people - involved and host a blood drive at your school. I don't see why there isn't already at least one blood drive in every school across the country.
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