This upcoming Halloween, vampires aren’t the only thing that will be taking blood. Shadow Ridge’s Just Serve Club will be teaming up with the Red Cross Foundation to host a blood drive where students 17 and older can go and donate their blood to those in need. Students must make sure to first schedule an appointment prior on redcrossblood.org from any time between 9:00am to 2:15pm on October 31 using the sponsor code “SRHS.” Students 18 and older can sign up by themselves, but students who are 17 must have a waiver signed by their parent or guardian. At the time of their appointment, students can go to the faculty lounge, room 520, to donate their blood.
“We are doing [the blood drive] for a couple reasons. 1) It is an amazing service opportunity for anyone who can participate that won’t take too much from their day. 2) Donating blood will be a fun activity to add onto your Halloween,” senior Jackson Luszeck, co-founder and President of the Just Serve club explains. “Lastly, Shadow Ridge broke the Red Cross record for most blood donations ever for a high school a few years ago and we want to break that record again this or next semester.”
The previous record that Shadow Ridge set was donating approximately 94 units of blood. A unit of blood is equivalent to about one pint, which calculates to roughly 14 gallons of blood donated.
Junior Lauren Luth, Vice President of the Just Serve Club, describes, “The main purpose of Just Serve is to give back to the school and community! We also want to provide all high school students with the opportunity to participate in meaningful service activities that will help improve both students and community members alike,” Luth continues. “This blood drive will help countless people across the nation with cancer, severe burns, trauma patients, organ transplants, and other medical problems receive life saving blood transfusions.”
According to the American Red Cross website, blood from the donations will be distributed to different hospitals to be used for blood transfusions to patients for “serious injuries, surgeries, childbirth, anemia, blood disorders, cancer treatments,” and many other things.
Luszeck remarks, “Blood only has a shelf life of 35 days meaning the Red Cross and hospitals constantly need new donations, so it is vital that we get the most donations we can out of this.”
Students who take advantage of this easy way to give to the community and donate will not only get the satisfaction of donating blood to help somebody desperately in need, but there will also be snacks provided afterwards to those who donate.
