One pint of blood. Yet three lives saved.

It’s amazing what sitting in a chair with a needle in your arm for ten minutes can do for others.

Having been a part of HOSA for so long, blood drives now seem like a routine to be involved in.

From organizing sign ups, creating hall passes, and handing out sixteen year old permission forms to setting up the gym, managing the snacks station, and passing out t-shirts, I’ve grown accustomed to the rhythm of the weeks leading up to the blood drive, especially this year with it falling on Friday.

It’s easy to forget, though, how impactful the work of the blood drive really is. In between asking students to verify they meet conditions for donating and requesting they prepare for the drive with a big meal, it slips my mind occasionally how crazy important each step of the process is.

For one thing, as mentioned earlier, one unit of blood has the ability to save three individual lives, considering it will eventually be separated into red blood cells, plasma, and platelets.

Granted that the Bedford Blood Bank services all of northeast Texas, the numbers really do add up, especially when so many eligible high schoolers have the potential to safely and healthily donate their blood.

Personally, I love being able to donate. And it helps that I’ve never been squeamish of needles.

Having given my blood two times now since I’ve turned 16 and ready to make it my third on Friday, I find it so cool that I can literally invest myself in the well-being of someone’s health by literally giving part of myself to them. It’s kind of neat to think of.

I’m really touching someone else’s heart. Quite literally.

The satisfaction and relief of knowing that you can be of aid to someone just by proactively taking the measure of donating is unique and an experience like none other. I feel happy that I can benefit my immediate community around me by choosing to take some time to have blood drawn from me.

I urge you fellow Redhawks to join in on the cause and donate as well. The requirement list can be found here, and walk in sign ups will be admitted in on Friday.

It takes so little to give a lot.

Here’s to hoping our drive as a prideful, giving school can help us knock our blood drive out of the park.