TOWNSEND — According to the American Red Cross, someone in the US needs blood or platelets every two seconds. Blood donations are critical for things like traumatic injury treatment, surgery and cancer treatment, and recently the Broadwater High School student council stepped up to help get those vital donations.
The student council held their first blood drive for the American Red Cross on Jan. 31.
“We went with it, we made plans, and we made sure that we were going to be able to do it,” Broadwater High School student council member Eric Eichinger said. “We organized with Red Cross and we were able to put it together.”
The drive was open to students 16 and older with parental permission, and the larger community.
In all, 33 units of blood were donated, that’s equal to about 33 pints.
“Blood is really important to people, and it keeps people alive,” Broadwater High School student council member James Pitassy said. “I think it’s just really important to see that people care in our community.”
Student council member Trinity Wilson donated blood for the first time during the drive. She said the experience was easy.
“I had a support system with me,” Wilson said. “It was just a really fun experience, and I recommend it for everybody.”
While this Jan. 31 blood drive was the student council’s first, students said it will not be the last.
“I think it’s definitely something we should continue in the future,” student council member Kaitlyn Noyes said. “We did talk about possibly doing more next year—maybe two next year—so we can get more people involved.”
In all, the students said they were impressed by their community’s support for the blood drive and they enjoyed the experience of organizing and carrying out the drive.
“It’s just great to see that many people show up and help out,” student council member Cooper Hines said.