NHS Blood Drive to be March 28th

NHS Blood Drive to be March 28th

Carley Burrows, Writer

On Tuesday, March 28th, 2023, the Red Cross Blood Drive will be at Belfast Central School in the auditorium from 12pm to 3pm. There are two ways that you can sign up to donate blood. You can talk to Mrs. Heaney and she can register you, or you can register online at redcrossblood.org.  If you prefer, you can just come in for a walk-in appointment, although it is preferred that you pre-register to save your appointment time. Anyone can give blood if they are over sixteen. Students who want to give blood and are over the age of sixteen need to see Ms. Green or Mrs. Heaney for a parental consent form. Then you should just bring the form and some type of ID with you to give blood.

While speaking to multiple students about their experience getting their blood drawn, one said “At first, I was scared about what would happen. I had never given blood before, but all the people working were very nice and they told me I would be fine, and they were right — I felt fine after. To be honest, it just felt rewarding to be able to do something for someone else and it was such an easy process. When given the chance, I’ll definitely donate again.” These donations help many people. For example, when people are in car accidents and need blood, just one unit could help to save a life. The Red Cross normally uses around 43,000 pints of blood to save lives and one pint can save three people.  

If we can get over our goal of thirty units of blood, the school can choose a student to receive a scholarship given by the Red Cross. This scholarship is normally given to a student who has either volunteered at the previous blood drives, or a student who is planning to enter a healthcare related field. Please sign up now and help us to reach our goal!