Blood donations are used every day in Connecticut’s hospitals and emergency rooms. From cancer patients to victims of car accidents, many people’s lives depend on the willingness of others to donate blood. Each year, a group of students and teachers work together to hold two blood drives at Old Saybrook High School. This year, Caroline Ancona, Maddie Gutzmer, and Elizabeth Bubello worked with Mrs. Scherber and Mrs. Torre to organize and run the fall blood drive on November 15th in the band room. They implemented new strategies and were able to surpass their goal for participation.
The blood drive requires weeks of planning and organization. One challenge comes from working with a group not affiliated with the school, as students have to coordinate the drive with the Red Cross, a health and disaster relief focused nonprofit that holds blood drives around the country. Another comes from choosing a date that will work for students and teachers, and will allow many students to participate. However, one of the largest challenges every year is recruiting enough people to donate. Junior Maddie Gutzmer assisted in organizing the blood drive. She shared that advertising the snacks they have available, along with emphasizing the fact that donating saves lives, are some of the strategies they used this year to encourage people to sign up. “I think really sharing that what you do is going to save lives and it’s gonna save three people from the blood you give really does help, people can kind of realize how important it is,” she said. Mrs. Scherber, one of the teachers who played a major part in the drive’s organization, noted that students used different strategies this year to recruit even more people than in the years before. She claimed that recruiting has improved over the years, saying “I think that Caroline really used the team approach this time because she got a couple other people that help her go into every flex and ask anybody who is 16 or older to donate … reaching out to them really made a difference.”
The day of the blood drive itself also required a lot of organization, as well as many student volunteers. One group of students sat outside of the band room checking students in, while another group sat in the band room making sure that people were eating and waiting until they felt okay to leave. Junior Shelby Pauloski, one of the students who volunteered in the band room, said, “I help bring them to the mat, help them get food, help them get their sugar up, and make sure that they’re okay and not feeling dizzy after.” Since donating blood can cause dizziness and nausea, making sure students were safe and feeling well was a priority.
Despite the risk of feeling sick afterwards, many students and teachers were eager to donate. Senior Ellie Pennington shared that she was donating because “I did it two years ago and I really like the cause it’s going towards”, and commented that the drive also conveniently took place between soccer and basketball season, which eliminates the concern of participation in after school sports later in the day. Others noticed that people were inspired by the chance to save lives and wanted to take the chance to do something good for their community.
In total, 35 people donated which exceeded the student government’s goal by ten. This equated to 35 pints of blood and 105 lives saved. According to Mrs. Scherber, “the majority of the blood products in Connecticut come from school drives, so not from adult donations, but from student donations”. Therefore, the state relies on blood drives such as the one at OSHS in order to keep hospitals and emergency rooms fully stocked.
