A total of 105 students signed up to give blood along with some adults as well. The blood drive was held by Virginia Blood Services in the multi-purpose room. Austin Rehfield, who is the regional director of mobile recruitment, stresses the importance of blood donation.

“The worst part of my job is when we are in the situation where we are challenged to provide an adequate supply of blood for the patients who need it. Blood cannot be manufactured in a laboratory or converted from animal use for human use. Blood is only available when humans donate it for their fellow humans,” Rehfield said. “So, the most challenging part is when our inventory is low… We try to always do our best and maintain an adequate blood supply by relying on wonderful sponsoring groups like your high school to have a successful blood drive. We need to collect around 400 donations every day. The need for blood never takes a vacation. You go to the hospital, you expect them to have the doctors there, the nurses, the medical equipment, you just expect them to have the blood available in case you need it. But it’s not going to be there unless people take the time donate.”

There are several requirements you must meet in order to be eligible to donate. Those requirements include being of the age 16 or older, ability to provide a form of I.D, weigh at least 110 pounds and be in a well and healthy state.

“If you’re on an antibiotic cause you’ve got a cough… well that says you’re not well. You would need to be off the antibiotic for at least 24 hours and feeling well and healthy before you can donate. For some people…[who’ve] traveled to a malaria area in the past year, you have to wait a year upon return. That affects people who travel a lot or they might go on a mission trip with their church to a country where malaria is a concern. So, we interview the donor as part of the process after you get registered. You answer questions about medical history and your travel. And if that’s okay, they give you a brief physical where they check your blood pressure, body temperature and they check your iron levels, so they do a little finger stick and check to make sure you have enough iron and once you finish that you’ll go and donate.”

When donating, it is essential to have eaten a good meal beforehand. You also want to make sure you are well hydrated.

“You do not want to donate on a empty stomach because your body is telling you, ‘Alright I need some fuel,’ and if you go and donate blood that’s going to drain more energy out of you. So, it starts with being prepared and having a good breakfast or if you’re doing it in the afternoon, a good lunch. After your donation you want to make sure you rest a little bit, nothing terribly strenuous for the next 24 hours and donors recover just fine,” Rehfield said.

Senior Jacinth McGramaham was the first donor of the day and it was also her first time donating.

“I have to get blood tests sometimes so sticking a needle in my arm isn’t that bad. It makes me feel really happy to have someone benefit from me [giving] just this little bit bit of blood. It’s pretty cool,” McGramaham said.

Senior Chenelle Francois has donated blood before. She is type O positive which is the universal donor.

“[I donate] because I know it will help people. And my blood is I guess rare and so they usually ask me to donate a lot so I say, ‘Hey, if anybody can get it might as well give it to as many people as I can”,” Francois said.

Rehfield urges people to give blood donation a try.

“The great thing about donating blood is that for new donors who might be nervous about it, if they’ve prepared themselves well, eaten a meal, hydrated themselves, after they’ve donated they’re like, ‘Wow, what was I so afraid of? That was such a big deal, that was really pretty easy. I think I’ll do that again because I know if somebody in my family needed it, I would donate blood.’ The fact is you just never know when people will need it. The life you save might be your own. It’s important for people to become lifelong donors. To seek out oppurtunites you can go to our website at vablood.org and find out more about blood and blood donation there,” Rehfield said.