On Friday, Sept. 12 from 9 a.m to 2 p.m Student Council (StuCo) is hosting another blood drive. The sign-in table will be at the end of the theatre hallway by door 10 and the blood will be drawn in the vehicle parked outside the doors. To sign up, students 16 and older can either scan the QR codes placed around the school or follow the link in StuCo’s bio on Instagram, their handle is @lsw.stuco, or their grade’s Google Classroom and get the parental consent form from the office.
“StuCo hosts blood drives at the school so we can help raise awareness of the people who need blood and to give people who are willing to donate blood an opportunity,” freshman Dhiya Humeshkar said. “There’s always a blood shortage going on , and donating blood is one of the easiest ways to make an impact in your community,”
There is a list of requirements that students have to meet in order to be able to donate blood in addition to being 16 years old. There are requirements based on height, weight and gender, additional information on these requirements can be found on StuCo’s Instagram or through scanning the QR codes in the hallways. Additionally, students cannot donate blood if they have any blood related diseases such as Anemia, Sickle Cell Disease, HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C.
“The requirements to donate blood definitely depend on the person, they test your iron levels and you need to have a certain level of hemoglobin,” senior Claire Timperley said. “If you’re trying to hit that iron level make sure you eat a lot of high-iron cereal, especially with oranges, try to not have milk when you’re having those iron-rich foods because it deactivates it.”
It is recommended for students to eat iron-rich foods such as cereal, red meat and eggs and drink lots of water before giving blood. Additionally, after getting their blood drawn, students will be given juice and a snack to help them regain their strength.
“I would recommend that everyone donate blood at least once in their life. It’s one of the best ways to give back to your community and help others,” Humeshkar said. “I think people should give blood to help out in their community, I’m not saying everyone needs to give blood, but if you are willing to give blood to help out another person that would be awesome.”
