On February 14th, members of The Key Club and National Honor Society directed valiant students to the auxiliary gym who volunteered to donate blood through the American Red Cross Association. The Red Cross Association helps those in need through donations, blood donations, and providing healthcare to (American Red Cross | Help Those Affected by Disasters). Key Club and National Honors Society conducted the blood drive because the American Red Cross is always seeking donations. The head of this event was teachers Anthony Adamo and Sarah Miller.
“There is a blood shortage worldwide,” Adamo said. “We were trying to do our part to help save lives.”
The American Red Cross is a non-profit humanitarian organization that focuses on helping people who need blood in emergency assistances, disaster relief and, keeping blood in storage for prepared disasters. The blood donations are delivered to local hospitals like Henry Ford, Corewell and more.
Utica’s efforts in donating blood to the American Red Cross takes part in providing blood for about 40% of our nation’s supply. The terms for students to be eligible to donate one pint of blood, they were required to be over the age of 17 and weigh at least 110 pounds (Blood Donation Eligibility Requirements | Red Cross Blood Services). This donation was not just limited to students, but teachers and faculty, since to the American Red Cross always on the lookout for donations.
The American Red Cross includes more restrictions to ensure the safety of everyone involved. Being healthy and not sick when donating, report if you have a history of bleeding conditions, low blood pressure being below 100 in time of donating, and cannot give blood if you have AIDS (Blood Donor Eligibility Criteria | Red Cross Blood Services)
“Some people do get turned away because of low iron and other complications,” teacher Sarah Miller said. “Regardless, all the appointments were filled.”
The Key Club and National Honors Society were successful in meeting their quota of 70 appointments that the American Red Cross would need.
“A lot of people were turned off by the idea of donating blood especially if they’d never done it before,” senior Angelina Williams said. “I just explained to them that it’s a simple process and that they would be saving lives in doing so.”
To recruit more donors, the Key Club made gift baskets for those who volunteered, even if they were turned down for donation. Gift baskets were full of shirts, candy, gift cards for free Frosty’s for a year, and money for the school store.
“We met with a member of the Red Cross a month before the drive,” senior Abby Harris said. “We discussed how we would recruit people.”
Students who volunteered felt somewhat uneasy during the procedure. Some felt unwilling at first, but with positive persuasion, it was successful. Some have a fear of needles and often don’t like the idea of getting blood taken out.
“I was a little anxious at the beginning,” senior Brandon Chunchick said. “I felt fine afterwards.”
Overall, the blood drive was a success in gaining volunteers and potentially saving dozens of people who need blood transfusions. This drive provided an opportunity for staff and students to help give back to their community who are in need. As this year’s drive resulted in abundant success in gaining more volunteers than the previous year, Utica will look forward to continuing this annual tradition for years to come.
