The first Wilsonville High School blood drive of the year occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The goal of these drives is to help contribute to the total amount of blood collected throughout the Pacific Northwest. “One donation can actually be used for up to three different people,” said Ms. Koivunen. 

Ms. Koivunen runs the Red Cross Club, which holds two blood drives every year, one in the fall and one in the spring. 

In order to get donors, the Red Cross Club recruits people by presenting to life classes. Junior Gracelyn Julison stated, “We pushed into a lot of different life classes, mostly juniors and seniors, and gave a little speech about why donating blood is so important.”

Through these presentations, donors were able to sign up for a time slot and learn about the donation process. “Knowing that high schools contribute to about 20% of the nation’s blood supply is a pretty big deal because it made our job here just that much more important,” continued Julison. 

Julison didn’t just aid in the recruitment process, but also donated herself. To prepare for donation, she added, “I started drinking lots of water. You need to make sure you’re eating iron-filled foods, so I had a lot of spinach, and also lots of protein.”

Making sure you’re doing things prior is just a part of the preparation needed to give blood. Before you can donate, you also need to check in at the drive and answer some questions. This includes some personal questions to make sure no one is transmitting bloodborne diseases. 

Ms. Koivunen stated, “From that, they (the donor) sit on the table and ideally have 15 minutes to get their blood drawn.” The process in total takes about an hour. 

There is a lot of usefulness that comes with giving blood. Julison continued, “It’s used in surgeries and in traumas, and cancer and sickle cell treatments. All of that is really important to me.” Donating blood can help change the lives of people for the better.