The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

Second YEAH! Blood Drive Donates 75 Pints of Blood

The second and final blood drive of the year took place on Monday, April 4 from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. It was organized by YEAH! Club Events Coordinator junior Adriana Gardner and Monica Doleshel-Aguirre from the Stanford Blood Center.

For about two and a half weeks, sign-ups for the drive were advertised for those who were 16 years old or older. All 16 year olds were required to bring a parents’ permission slip. The donors were given coupons for a pint of Baskin Robins ice cream and refreshments after the donation.

“I organized the blood drive with help form the YEAH! Club,” Adriana said. “Juniors Alexie Ogonowsky and Lauren Liu played a large role, as they are the Presidents of YEAH!. [The preparation for the drive] was about one and a half months. It took about 20 hours, but it was a combined effort.”

People who signed up to donate blood filled out a personal information sheet, had their blood tested, and donated either one or two pints of blood. The process took about one hour to one hour and twenty minutes for those donating two pints, and donors had to miss a period of class. Volunteers from the Stanford Blood Center were in charge of testing and collecting blood, while volunteers from YEAH! were in charge of checking in donors and making sure they had blankets and water.

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“More people than we thought were deferred,” Alexie said. “We probably got less blood than last time, but that’s not a problem for us. We’re just trying to get as much blood as possible.”

Of the 115 who planned on donating blood, about 40 were deferred because of low body weight, low iron, low hemoglobin, lack of permission slip, or presence in another country while a serious disease, like mad cow disease, was prevalent.

“I think it went well,” Adriana said. “Even though there were more people in November, it was more backed up … We didn’t get as much blood, but it went a lot smoother.”

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