“For the first time I’m going to figure out what blood type I have,” Aiden Kirby, sophomore, said as he was getting his blood drawn at the blood drive on campus last Friday.
National Honors Society (NHS) members helped organize and run the biannual event Friday, March 27 in the gym.
Kirby said he completed a double red donation, which takes around 15 more minutes and gives two times as much red blood cells.
“I got a bunch of food, I got an apple juice, and also I got to skip class,” Kirby said.
ImpactLife, a nonprofit organization that provides blood products to more than 120 hospitals, ran the event. It gives donors rewards such as giftcards, ImpactLife rewards points, or donations to a charity for donating blood to encourage more generosity, according to their website.
“I get a $20 giftcard this time and next time I get a $40 giftcard,” Kirby said.
Sarah Zenthoefer, NHS sponsor, said she mostly lets the students take charge.
“They do a lot of the leg work and organizing of things,” Zenthoefer said.
Zenthoefer said NHS usually runs a blood drive every spring semester and appreciates student generosity.
“I think it’s really neat to see how many kids are willing to come down here and do this,” Zenthoefer said.
Zenthoefer said she admires the local aspect of the blood drive.
“It all stays in the St. Louis area so we know it’s going to help people in St. Louis,” Zenthoefer said.
Senior Emma Pieper, NHS member, helped out with the blood drive by setting up at the beginning of the day.
“I was only there in the morning to help ImpactLife get everything set up and move tables,” Pieper said.
Pieper said she is interested in healthcare and this gave her an opportunity to see medical professionals in action.
“It’s interesting for kids who are interested in healthcare,” Pieper said. “Knowing and seeing all the different careers in healthcare, some of them are nurses, some of them are phlebotomists.”
A phlebotomist draws blood from patients and prepares it for testing as well as explain the procedure to patients, according to Mayo Clinic.
Pieper said she learned that blood drawing is a good entry-level career into healthcare.
“I think it’s really nice to see my peers and people younger than me all collecting together to save people’s lives,” Pieper said.
