This past Friday, February 23rd, Fallston High School’s SGA hosted their annual blood drive through the Red Cross. The blood drive has been happening at Fallston for the last 10 years and this year, we were able to collect 23 units of blood, which means we potentially saved 69 lives!
In January, the Red Cross declared a national blood shortage, so Fallston’s blood drive was perfect timing to give lots of students, and even teachers, an opportunity for them to give blood during the school day.
Lots of people who were talked to while giving blood, or just after, said it was an easy and mostly painless experience. Even Meghan Perez, who almost passed out, said it was a great experience. “Everyone was super friendly… the volunteers were great, they helped me out, gave me food, and gave me water,” Perez said.
Emma Callahan, another student who gave blood, also talked about her positive experience, saying volunteers were always checking up on her, seeing how she was feeling and offering her snacks and juice. She even went on to say, “I can’t wait until I can donate again.”
A common thread amongst donors was that they decided to donate because just one liter of blood can save up to three lives, and they just thought that was great. Perez even said that when she heard that she thought, “I don’t see why you wouldn’t [donate blood].”
Mrs. Canatella, SGA advisor and one of the teachers who gave blood, had a different reason for donating. Ever since she was a kid, her dad instilled the importance of donating, especially since he was an avid blood donor, so once she was old enough to give blood, she started to regularly. The first time she gave blood was actually at her school’s blood drive when she was 16, just like many of the students that gave blood on Friday! Mrs. Canatella’s daughter even donated as well.
This year’s Fallston High School blood drive was quite a success and even seemed to inspire many students to want to give blood again. Hopefully this trend continues on to next year’s blood drive, and maybe even has a better turn out!
