The Red Cross Club held its first winter blood drive on Friday, Dec. 13, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the dance room. Through the work of both Red Cross and student volunteers, as well as club advisor Jessica Mehegan, the drive collected 46 units of blood from 60 donors.
“High school [drives] usually go over really well. We try to get the students really excited about donating. It’s usually their first experience giving, so this is a great place to get them to start and to hopefully be a lifelong donor after that,” Red Cross Account Manager Nicole Miller said.
Student donor Maddux Neukirch ’27 said, “I donated because some people need blood, and I have plenty of it…I’d donate again.”
Youth donors aged 16 to 24 make up 20% of all Red Cross blood donations. These are typically high school and college students, which is why school blood drives are so vital.
The club always organizes an annual spring drive in March or April, but this year, they added one in December to help prevent a winter blood shortage after the national blood supply fell by 25% in July. Currently, fewer people are donating than in the past two decades.
Summer and winter usually see a temporary decrease in donations due to vacations, breaks, extreme weather and seasonal illnesses. “There’s very seasonal time frames in blood collection. That’s why it’s always so important to have a good supply on our shelves for when it’s needed because emergencies come up anytime,” Miller said.
There can also be a stigma around donation, but surprising to many, a fear of needles isn’t the top reason people choose not to give blood. According to Miller, a lack of awareness deters more donors: “When I do presentations with students, I say, ‘What do you think [is] the number one reason why people don’t give blood?’ And [they say] ‘fear of needles.’ It’s actually because they’ve never been asked.”
A fear of needles is still a deterrent, but the actual donation only takes 7-9 minutes on average; the rest of the estimated 30-45 minutes is getting checked in and resting afterward. “It’s actually quite quick, and it’s just a little prick once the needle goes in. So if you can handle a little pinch, if you can get your ears pierced, or if you can get a regular vaccine for a flu shot once a year, you can handle giving blood,” Miller said.
To overcome this and incentivize more people to donate, the Red Cross offers rewards like e-gift cards, clothing and giveaways. Donors from the Dec. 13 drive will receive a $15 e-gift card in their email.
“It’s important to give blood, because you never know who is going to need it. Often we think of just car accident victims, emergencies, people that are excessively bleeding [as people] that need blood. It’s people that are going through a cancer treatment. It’s a mom giving birth. It’s a newborn baby, it’s a burn victim, it’s someone just having a regular surgery,” Miller said.
The Red Cross Club will hold another blood drive on March 28, 2025, in the dance room. Sign up to donate at West or another local drive at redcrossblood.org, within the Blood Donor App or by calling 1-800-RED CROSS.
