If Halloween makes you think of blood-sucking vampires or bloody knives from scary movies, then the most recent Umatilla High School Key Club event was designed for you! The Key Club had a Blood Drive on the afternoon of Monday, October 30 th in the school gym.
Key Club, which is a student organization dedicated to community service, hosted a Red Cross Blood Drive. Leslie, UHS Senior and Key Club Vice President, said the group has been having blood drives for several years as a community service project. Working with Red Cross, the Key Club members are responsible for hosting the drive and promoting it. Leslie said they put up flyers at school and around the city of Umatilla, posted on social media and had a table during lunchtime to sign students up to donate blood.
Potential donors must be at least 16 years old to donate blood and must have parent permission unless they are over 17. Luis, UHS Senior and Key Club President, said both students and community members donated and about half or more than half of the day’s donors were students.
Leslie said the goal of this drive was to get 48 people to make an appointment, which they achieved, but some people for various reasons end up not being able to donate. The unit collection goal was 27 and 29 units were collected!
“We had a lot of people sign up to help, which was great. The benefit of giving blood is that it can change someone’s life; if at least one person donates, it makes a big difference,” Leslie said.
Luis said the event was very successful and there were no unexpected complications.
Samantha Erz, UHS Science Teacher and Key Club Advisor, said the group has hosted 34 blood drives over many years with 1,118 units collected from 1,370 total donors and 33 average units per drive. “We were very pleased with the turnout and success of the blood drive in October. Without the hard work of the Key Club members, this may not have been possible. Their dedication to this event has helped to make a significant impact on many lives,” Erz said.
Key Club’s next blood drive is February 22, 2024, from Noon to 5 PM.
