![Junior Grant Levins sprints down the track. "I'm here to try out because I love the sport of track and field and I'm working on my 800 [meter] time. Just trying to get better," Levins said.](https://www.wjpitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/g82ehdhTRiNswrE8gfn0tL9VRz7fuAnaiIKPCaOI-1200x900.jpg)
According to the Inova Blood Donor website, someone needs blood every two seconds in the United States.
WJ’s annual blood drive took place on Nov. 7. Students gathered in the auxiliary gym to donate blood to save a life. The leadership class and the Inova Blood Donor team ran the blood drive. Students had to weigh at least 110 pounds and be 16 years or older with parent consent to donate blood. They also needed to be in good health the day of the drive, and could not have low iron levels. Students who donated blood were given 30 minutes afterwards to just sit, relax and have a snack before returning to class.
Some students decided to take after their parents when it comes to donating blood.
“I decided to donate blood because my dad donates blood all the time, and I know it can assist a lot of people,” junior Quinn Harris said.
For a few students, although they came into the drive feeling well, they left feeling the opposite.
“At the beginning when they were taking my blood, it was going really well, and then I ended up fainting from the loss of blood. The workers and the leadership were super helpful and supportive when I passed out. Although it didn’t go as planned, I am still glad I donated blood because maybe it could save a life,” junior Danielle Nevett said.
For some, it’s not the free snacks and drinks or the chance to miss class that encouraged them to donate, but the idea of having the chance to help another person in need.
“It hurt a little, but there is no reason not to give blood. It helps so many people,” senior Kayla Kazemzadeh said.
The Red Cross Blood website states that one donation can potentially save up to three lives, and a single car crash victim can require as many as 100 donors.
Many question how the Inova technicians can be sure that the blood they receive is completely disease free and eligible to use in a transfusion.
“We take the blood back to a lab after we finish visiting all the schools in the DMV and test it for infectious diseases and to see what type each is,” one of the Inova technicians who worked the drive said.
The Community Blood Center website states that 4.5 million Americans will need blood this year; therefore, donations are extremely important.
“Student’s donations really make a big impact in helping people who need blood,” the Inova technician said.
