Blood drive saves hundreds of lives

RB’s first blood drive of the year took place on Wednesday November 2^nd. Students, staff and community members had the opportunity to donate throughout the entire day. This year, a total of 119 pints of blood were collected. Each pint of blood collected has the potential to save three lives, meaning that this may save over 350 lives.

The blood drive, sponsored by the Student Association, has been held at RB for over twenty years. In the past, SA would typically run three blood drives each year, but due to the reduction of SA sponsors, there will only be two blood drives this year.

“The reduction of SA sponsors meant that I needed to work more closely with students, as well as helping recruit and meeting with Lifesource prior to the drive. So, there was a lot more pressure on me because this would normally be divided between two people. Also, there’s normally two sponsors who check in during the blood drive, so we had to call in help from Mr. Pasarella and school security,” said Angela Ziola, Student Association sponsor.

This year, the goal was set at collecting 120 pints of blood. However, the school fell only one pint short. In previous years, blood collection averaged about 100 pints.

In addition to saving lives, there was also the motivation to donate in order to win scholarship money for the school.

“The school must hold a minimum of two blood drives to qualify for scholarship money, and each drive must have at least one hundred donors. We get a minimum of $500 per drive, which means we will receive at least $500 by the end of the year,” said Ziola.

“I donated because I wanted to help other people, plus it was nice to get out of class,” said junior Mitchell Malloy, first time blood donor.

Students and community members still have the chance to donate for RB by donating at any Lifesource center and presenting the code “313” before they donate. In addition to this, the school’s next drive will be held on Wednesday February 29^th, and the Student Association is looking forward to another successful blood drive.

Blood Drive is once again a success

On Wednesday May 26, RB yet again hosted a blood drive. A company, Life Source, was in the building collecting blood from students, teachers and anyone that wanted to donate. It took place in the Alumni Lounge from 8:00 A.M to 3:00 P.M.

This is not the first blood drive RB has had throughout the year. Wednesday’s blood drive was the last of three blood drives for the school year. RB has been getting more and more volunteers (16 and up) to donate their blood.

This time RB had a total donation of 121 pints of blood. For every pint donated, three lives were saved reaching a total of 363 lives. The total pints donated throughout the school year were 331 pints, which means a totally of 993 lives were saved.

Sophomore Kyle Perfect said, “It was my first time donating blood and I’m so happy I did it. It was a great experience and everything went smoothly. I will definitely be donating again next year.”

Another participant, sophomore Evan Waterloo said, “I’m really happy I donated, it really makes me feel like I’ve made a difference because I’ve saved three lives.”

Life source would like the reward those who donated by giving out gifts. Everyone that donated received plaid pajama pants, along with food and drinks.

Blood drive and surprise guests collect 109 pints

At RB’s first 2009-10 blood drive, 109 pints of blood collected. There weren’t enough pints of blood to hit a record, yet Student Association sponsor, Angela Ziola said, “The numbers were great with the condition of the students and staff having the flu.”

Fourteen people were deferred which means they wanted to donate blood but couldn’t. This was either because they had a temperature higher than 99.5 degrees or their iron levels were too low.

There were sixteen people who did the Alyx machine donation. With this donation, blood is withdrawn and red blood cells are separated from it and the rest is returned to the donor. Alyx removes two times the blood than a regular donation.

With the requirements of having to be 5’1’’ and weigh at least 130 pounds for a male, and 5’5’’ and weigh at least 150 pounds for a female, it was a very good turnout.

There were also surprise guests at the blood drive. Two 1985 Bears players showed up at RB. Shaun Gayle and Emery Moorehead were signing autographs and posters. Both frequently donate blood, but couldn’t during the RB blood drive because they recently did.

If you missed out on the last blood drive or want to donate again, the next one will be Wednesday, February 3. Anyone over the age of 16, once again, can donate. RB students and staff saved 327 people with this blood drive. Help save even more people by donating blood.

Blood drive a strong RB tradition

On Wednesday October 28, RB will be hosting a Blood Drive.  LifeSource, an independent company that collects blood donations, will be in the building in the Alumni Lounge from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Student Association (SA) has been stationed at the front of the lunch room for the past week so that students 16 or older can sign up to donate blood.

This happens three times a year. Each time is spaced throughout the year so that students can donate all three times since it’s necessary to have 76 days in between each donation. There is also another drive in the summer.

Last year, RB collected over 350 pints of blood, and it seems as though more and more students want to donate.

“We hit a record high last year,” said president of SA, Kelly Sherman, “But we definitely beat it this year. The list was full of names.”

Of course not everyone can donate. Students have to weigh more than 110 pounds, be in good health, and not have been tattooed or received a piercing in the past year. With H1N1 hitting RB, “Even the slightest of temperature could be a risk,” said SA sponsor, Angela Ziola.

According to LifeSource, each donation can save up to three people in need of blood. 60 percent of the population is eligible to donate blood, yet only 5 percent do.

“People should realize it’s only 15 minutes out of their life. Others depend on your perfectly healthy blood,” said treasurer of SA, Giulia Bova.

After participating, donors will receive shirts. There will also be food and drinks.

If you want to help save three lives, donate blood. People depend on it.