Blood is Welcomed-PN Senate host their semi-annual Blood Drive

Once again the Portage Northern Student Senate will contribute to the community welfare by hosting their second semi annual Michigan Blood Drive this year on March 2nd. Every student and staff over the age of 16 can sign up in Kellie Pittman’s room to donate their blood to save lives.

The purpose behind this Blood Drive is to provide hospitals in the Kalamazoo area with blood supplies for patients who need a transfusion. Conforming to Michigan Blood, many people rely on blood donations because it is not possible to generate functioning blood in a laboratory.  According to the American Red Cross, blood is needed every two seconds in the U.S. and approximately 36,000 units of red blood cells are needed per day. Although there are many national and global organizations asking for blood donations, the senate choose Michigan Blood because then all the blood goes to Bronson Hospital and therefore stays in our local community, explains Mrs. Pittman.

Everyone older than 16 years can participate and become one of America’s 6.8 Million donors. It is a easy and fast process that takes approximately 35 minutes. “It feels great to help so many people in such a short time,” says Sara Gonda (12), who participated in the Blood Drive in November and signed up again. Michigan Blood ensures the safety of the donor and patient by checking iron and hydration levels as well as the blood pressure. As Kellie Pittman, a social studies teacher at Northern explains, the best preparation for a donor is to have a good breakfast and lots of water on the day of the donation.

The Senate puts a lot of effort in the preparation for the blood drive. They start to plan and prepare three weeks in advance so that everything goes smooth, such as the blood drive previously this school year.  The event was a huge success, with 58 donors providing enough blood to help 174 people in the Kalamazoo area.