Victoria Snare–Staff Writer
The banner across the top of the American Red Cross’ website reads: “The need is constant. The gratification is instant. Give blood”. On October 15th, 290 Langley students chose to address this constant need and donated 223 pints of blood for INOVA Health Systems, the organization that supplies blood to surrounding hospitals in our community.
Science Honor Society Sponsor Mary Landis was very excited about the results of the drive. “Our goal was to collect 200 pints of blood,” she said, “so we were able to surpass this. Also, we ran this drive in honor of [Langley teacher] Cynthia Meade, who is currently fighting leukemia. As a result, we are even more excited that we surpassed these goals.”
Senior Zoe Tseng, one of the Blood Drive Coordinators, expressed her joy as well. “We collected 197 pints of blood last spring, so we did surpass our goals by way more than we expected,” she explained. “223 pints of blood is a lot more than INOVA collects in a week!”
Both Landis and Tseng were very grateful for everyone who assisted and participated.
“I want to thank all of the donors and volunteers, and also all of the teachers who supported our drive”, Ms. Landis stated. “We try to minimize classroom interruption, but I know it is always a burden for teachers to have students miss class. We are indebted to the teachers who support the drive and allow the students to miss a portion of the class to donate. Also- I would like to give a huge thank you to the teachers and staff who came down to donate.”
Langley’s donation is truly significant, as a donation from just one person can save up to three lives. “The blood that INOVA collects saves those patients in the ER who are losing so much blood that they could die,” Tseng explained.
Students who participated confirmed that it was a rewarding and gratifying experience.
“It’s a good feeling to know that someone who needs blood can have mine and live,” stated sophomore Mitch Brandt.
Still, even with major contributions like the one Langley just made, there is still a staggering shortage of participants and needed donations. According to the American Red Cross website, only 38% of Americans are actually qualified to give blood, and of those, only 8% actually do so. That amounts to three out of every hundred people. More donations are desperately needed.
Tseng encourages everyone to take part in the next blood drive, which will take place in April.
“It only takes about 30 minutes of your time. One pint of blood that your body can be easily replaced and is worth the lives it saves!” she enthused. “The requirements are that you have to be 16 years old and 110 lbs. Please help us as we try to beat our goals again in the spring!”