Don’t Be A Dud, Give Blood

The headline, Dont be a Dud, Give Blood, is a quote from Dean Tonjes. This year’s Boys Basketball Team sponsored a blood drive on Friday, Jan. 22.

The blood drive was held in the auditorium lobby between 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., and the turnout was excellent. There were fifty-four open slots for staff and students to sign up and on Friday there were a total of fourty-seven donations, compared to last years total of thirty-six donors.

Each donor donates one unit, or pint, of blood, and each unit of blood can save approximately 3 lives.

The blood a person donates is separated into 3 parts: into blood platelets, red blood cells and plasma. Each patient has different medical needs for the blood, so the amount and the part of the blood that the patient uses also varies.

“Recently we had a patient who was having a liver transplant and needed fifty units of blood.” said Rob Fisher, an employee of Bonfils Blood Center. That’s more than what our school donated in one sitting.

Please donate when they return later this year. It may not seem like it is that important or that big of a deal, but it saves lives. Just one unit of blood can be the difference between saving a life. It is our civil duty to donate blood and give back to the community.

If you are interested, Student Government plans on hosting another blood drive later this year. You must be 18 or older without a parental consent form, and for 16 and 17 year old, you must a consent form filled out and signed by a parent or guardian. You can find out if you are eligible or not at Bonfils website: hhtp://www.bonfils.org/donate_blood/eligibilty/