Let it flow! The best way to give back to the community is to give back with blood. The theme for the blood drive this year was based on the Disney movie Frozen.
The blood drive had a total 374 donors register to donate blood and 323 units donated to the Community Blood Center. That is about 20% of the students at LHS. In order to donate blood, a person must be at least 16 years of age with a parent’s permission and at least 115 pounds.
The blood drive may sound scary to a lot of people because word travels about people passing out. In reality, only around 5% of people pass out through out the entire day.
On average, the Kansas City area goes through around 700 units of blood per day.
“You can save two lives and it’s just a really simple way to help the community,” senior Camille Meeks said.
On February 20, AP Biology students hosted the annual blood drive at LHS.
“I put them [AP Biology students] in charge of getting their own awareness out there and reaching out to the students and the community,” AP Biology teacher Rick Knowles said. “They run the whole drive. They’re responsible for different stations, how it runs and how smooth it is.”
There were a total of 31 people who donated via the Alyx machine. The Alyx machine take 2 units of blood and separates the blood. The plasma will get pumped back into the person donating, and the red blood cells get donated. Essentially, the Alyx machine will donate twice the amount of red blood cells. Think about it like doubling the impact, 62 units of blood instead of 31.
“The most we’ve donated [from LHS] isn’t even enough to last one day,” junior Barcillio Blake said.
LHS donated only around half the amount we need to keep Kansas City alive for a day. Every day cities go through many units of blood, but not enough people donate regularly.
“People are just afraid,” Knowles said. “Reality is most people have a fine time donating, especially if they have a good breakfast and are hydrated.”
The Community Blood Center came to LHS at 5:30 a.m. with two large semi- trucks to unload. AP Biology students unloaded the equipment necessary for people to donate blood.
“Every time someone lays down to donate, you have the potential to affect two lives,” Knowles said. “We can give the red blood cells to one patient and the plasma goes to a second patient.”
Throughout the day the AP students pulled students who signed up to donate out of class at times they made before the event. Adults from the community or teachers had a free fast pass to the front of the line for their convenience.
“[I think the day will be] crazy for me because we’re running it as AP students,” Blake said. “Hopefully [it will be] pretty sane for everybody else.”
The goal for AP Biology students is to get more units of blood donated this year than last year.
“I think in years that I’ve been doing it, this is my 17th year, I see a lot of apathy,” Knowles said. “It’s not just a high school drive, it’s everybody. Anyone from the Kansas City area can come and donate.”
Some students knew what to expect because this wasn’t their first time donating.
“This will be my fourth time giving blood,” Meeks said. “It’s always really simple. It takes 15 minutes and you get snacks and you get out of class.”
It takes 3 days after the blood is donated to process and filter it.
“There are people everyday that are having different procedures that need a lot of blood,” senior Sydney Mills said.
It is important to donate blood when you can because you don’t know when a tragedy might occur.
“We can’t make blood,” Knowles said. “It’s only made in ourselves. We have to endure a few minutes of discomfort to help other people.”
Giving blood may sound scary at first. But, when it gets shipped out to hospitals around the nation to people having surgeries, they will be grateful for your time and blood. All you have to do is let it flow.