By: Rubee Stillwagon 

On Monday November 25, students and teachers at GS put an arm in to help with blood shortages. 

Last year SADD club took over the blood drive after the Red Cross club disbanded.  

“Mrs. Firmstone has done it the whole time until last year when she started including SADD club,” SADD Club Advisor Mrs. Alyssa Lukatch said. 

The blood drive was held in the gym, where American Red Cross volunteers set up and got to work at meeting their goals. 

“We had a ton of people sign up this year,” Mrs. Lukatch said. “Our top amount that we had was 42 and all of those spots have been filled. We also had 22 other people on a wait list.” 

There are certain requirements donators must meet to give blood. One must be in good general health, have stable iron levels, be at least 17 years old or 16 years old with parental consent, be at least 110 pounds and have not donated blood in the last 56 days. 

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Officer Dieter gets his blood taken.

Photo By: Emma Helmick

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“Donating blood helps people who are struggling with severe blood loss,” sophomore Cora Lehman said. 

After the blood is donated, it is then processed and shipped out to medical facilities in need. Blood transfusions are given to patients in many situations such as surgeries, childbirth, cancer treatments and so much more. 

For SADD club a lot went into planning for this event. 

“We had to have many meetings about it and walk around school asking people if they wanted to sign up,” Lehman said. “It worked out really well and we were able to get a lot of people to sign up.” 

Along with talking to students and teachers about the blood drive, members of the club also hung fliers throughout the school.  

They also set things up for people who have donated as a thank you for their donations. 

“After they donated, they got Chick-fil-A and there were also snacks and drinks,” Lukatch said. “They also got put into a drawing. We have ten different gift cards, and they are ten dollars each.” 

Students who did a Power Red donation, which is where one gives a concentrated dose of red blood cells, got their names entered in the drawing three times. The American Red Cross also gives out gift cards. 

“Students should donate because it can save a life, and the blood drive is a great opportunity for the school to help the community,” Lehman said.