Thursday, March 14th, Forest Hills Eastern High School is hosting a blood drive. In case you are unaware of what a blood drive is, it is an event organized to promote and gain donations of blood that will be used to save the lives of those in need. Eastern is hoping to receive 62 pints of blood to donate, so please consider signing up to help Eastern reach our goal.
If you are on the fence as to whether or not you should donate, there are many honorable and exciting reasons to participate in the blood drive. To start, each donation saves three lives, meaning you have the ability to effortlessly, quickly, and easily save the lives of three other people. Additionally, participants in the blood drive will be provided a pancake breakfast on the morning of the blood drive and snacks during the blood drive. They will also receive an orange goody bag for their participation (because the blood drive overlaps Eastern’s Go-Orange week, this will be a fun week organized to promote awareness and donations for Kids Food Basket). Donating blood can also count as volunteer hours; it is a sponsored event for students in NHS, but may also count as volunteer hours for students not participating in NHS. Therefore, there are many incentives to encourage you to donate at Eastern’s blood drive.
If you would like to participate in Eastern’s blood drive, please use this link to sign up. Prior to signing up to donate blood, make sure to check the table of corresponding heights and weights in order to ensure that you can qualify and that it is safe for you to donate. You must be 16 years of age in order to donate, and 16-year-olds signed up to donate must bring a permission slip (that can be picked up in Ms. Barnes’ classroom) signed by their parents or guardians in order to be able to donate. Any donors over this age are not required to bring a permission slip. Please also bring a valid form of ID, this can be a drivers license or school ID.
If you do decide to participate in the blood drive, here are some tips to help your donating process go smoothly. Firstly, make sure to eat healthy meals, with lots of iron, prior to donating. If your iron levels are too low, you will be unable to donate blood. Also, make sure to drink as much water as possible before donating; this will help your donation process go quickly and smoothly, and help you to feel less light-headed after donating. Next, make sure to get a good night’s sleep before donating. Finally, know that Versiti Blood Center makes the donation process easy, so you do not have to stress about anything on the day of your donation.
Make sure to sign up to participate in Eastern’s blood drive, taking place on March 14th, and spread the word to encourage more donations!
