There were 36 students who participated in the Blood Drive at Fargo North High School on October 31st. We collected and donated 37 blood products, and 24 people gave whole blood.

Donating blood is a generous, helpful thing you can do for the community. Statistics from the American Red Cross claim that every two seconds in America, someone needs blood. Donor blood can benefit people ranging from sickle-cell patients to emergency room patients.

That being said, numerous things prevent or discourage people from donating. Fear of needles, fear of the pain, or even just perceptions about requirements to donate can stop life-saving blood from being given to those who need it. If you’re curious about requirements to donate, please refer to the sidebar.

As for pain, Donor Hannah Devine said, “Last year when I did it it didn’t hurt until they took the needle out of your arm and it only hurts for a couple seconds.” She agreed that the pain was negligible for the cause. “I thought the most painful part was when they prick your finger,” Donor Amanda Grant added. “I didn’t think [the process] was that painful.”

Amanda Grant also suffers a fear of needles, but to overcome that fear she looked to the fact that she was saving lives by donating. Additionally, Amanda reports that they can cover the needle with the cloth, or looking away can help you if you have a fear of needles.

Hannah Devine’s and Amanda Grant’s motivation seemed to lie in the fact that they had the opportunity to help save lives. “Just knowing that it could save people’s lives is something that’s nice to think about,” Hannah Devine said. In a world without literal superheros, donating blood is a way to positively affect the community and save lives, and many people can donate.

You can also donate outside of school. There are certain requirements for how often you can donate, as the hospital staff are concerned with your health just as much as the people you’re giving blood to, but if you wanted to donate platelet apheresis, you can could donate every seven days, and you can donate plasma once a month.

Overall, Fargo North High School’s donors promoted community health, and helped provide blood to hospitals and patients in need. Hopefully, for students donating for the first time, this donation will provide an example of the experience of donating blood and will prompt students to go donate outside of school.

This event created awareness about donating in general, including who is able to donate and what donating is like. If you missed this chance but are still interested, donating outside of school is still an option, and you can get valuable answers to any questions that you may have on the Red Cross website, or on the website of the organization which you plan to donate to.

For more information see: http://www.redcrossblood.org/donating-blood