This month, blood is incredibly needed. As the Red Cross promotes, “The need is constant. The gratification is instant. Give blood.” There is a blood drive on November 15th. The blood drive goes from 8:30 AM to 2:00 PM upstairs in the small gym. Students can get excused from class, donate blood, find out their blood type, and save lives. One pint of blood can save up to three lives. Loni Yin, a junior who is Vice President of the Red Cross club, advocated for the blood drive.

Loni said, “The Red Cross is at Union, it’s part of a larger organization, it’s disaster relief. The Red Cross is international.” She explained the process of how the club functions. The Red Cross is split into multiple committees, and from these committees, they work with different categories of support. The categories include:

• Biomedical Committee
• Service to Armed Forces Committee
• Disaster Relief Committee
• Humanitarian Committee

Loni explained, “Blood drives are actually pretty important. I talked recently with the person who runs the blood drives in our state. His name is David, and he said that when he gives us the goal for a blood drive, we need to do our best to reach it. Because, when he sets that goal, he goes to hospitals and tells them, ‘We’re gonna give you guys a specific amount of blood.’ He splits up the pints into different hospitals that he thinks to need that much blood. The goal is 74 donors this month, and we’re pretty far from that. It’s important that we follow through with our goal. It’s actually something that he uses as a set number.” A lot of hospitals rely on blood for their patients, who need it. If individuals* are willing, it goes to an important cause.

According to Loni, the blood donation process is specific. “Well, first of all, they need to test what type of blood you have. Then, that blood goes directly to the hospitals. Personally, they have to send people, who are paid.” In more detail, she described,

“When you come in, we’ll have your permission form on file (if you give it to us) and then we’ll check you in and you just wait. First, you go to small tables (booths) and they take a tiny vial of your blood, which is a fraction of the amount that they’ll actually draw. They actually test your blood at that moment. And then you wait for maybe ten minutes and then they’ll tell you what your blood type is. Then, after that, they use that information. I think they also run some basic tests to make sure you don’t have any diseases or anything. After that, they can give you the okay and you can go donate your actual blood.”

During the actual blood draw, they will take around 1 pint of blood depending on your body weight. The process takes around 8-10 minutes and you will be seated comfortably. After, there will be refreshments and snacks, which individuals can happily consume for 10-15 minutes after the blood draw. The whole process should take around an hour.

Overall, the blood drives at Union happen 2-3 times a year. The next one is expected to be around mid to late February. Donating blood can make a huge difference. The best way to support the blood drive is to donate* blood and/or share the message. Stay tuned by following, union.rc on Instagram! (Viewable on phone).

*There is an age restriction for who can donate blood, 16-year-olds and up can donate. If not an adult, minors have to have guardian/parent consent. Fill out the form here! The form also has additional information.