HOSA held a blood drive at KHS during school hours on Wednesday, October 22. The goal behind the drive was to save lives, by donating blood of those who signed up, to hospitals for patients in need.
A student, Jadyn Swett, donated his blood because his mom is a doctor and he grew up donating his blood. He thought getting his blood taken did not hurt, and he enjoyed the incentives which included a free t-shirt.
“I’ve donated blood before because my mom’s a nurse so I [thought] I’ll just do it again,” Swett said.
A HOSA member and student, Taylor Richards, helped out with organizing the people to get their blood taken and serving the people in the community who gave generously.
“I checked in people… for the blood drive,” Richards said, “I’d walk them to class to make sure they don’t pass out.”
Richards gave blood herself and cared for the people donating beyond the blood drive truck and check-in room. She conveyed that donating is important to her due to hospitals needing more blood to give to more of those in need.
“I wanted to advocate for other people to donate blood because there’s such a shortage [of it] with transfusions and such,” Richards said.
This team of students and teachers came together in new ways to get people to donate, and those in the club that organized the drive pitched in their blood as well. In past blood drives, HOSA usually had around 20 people donate blood. This year, the amount of donations doubled.
“60 people signed up and 16 people got deferred from iron, weight, medication, piercings or blood pressure,” Richards said, “44 donated, and 2 teachers donated… twice as much blood.”
Dana Popa, the supporting teacher of HOSA, described the goal in mind due to the lack of donations since after the 2019 blood drive. The goal amount was 21 units of blood and this blood drive doubled the goal as 46 units were donated. Popa described the importance of donating as far more than just receiving incentives such as t-shirts and a free leave from class.
“What I try to tell them [students] is: just your donation alone could potentially save 3 lives,” Popa said.
Many students see their peers donating blood as just a way to get out of class, but the reality is the blood drive positively impacts patients, families, students, and the school. The Karns community needs more people willing to give what they have for a bigger purpose.
