On February 8th, the Ridgeview Medical club organized a blood drive. Students were able to fill out a form and bring it to room 1104. Esther Ibaria who is the adviser of the Medical Club states that not everyone is eligible to donate, there are specific requirements on the permission slip: being sixteen or older, must present a permission slip, must be over 110 pounds, must have an ID, etc. Students had to get cleared at the gym in order for them to donate their blood.

     Due to the success of last year’s blood drive, Ibaria’s expectations for this year were high. Two blood bank buses were on campus, and they handed out more than 300 permission slips. Even if you only donate one pint of blood throughout your life, it makes a significant difference. “There are many people who get into car accidents, have cancer, and for other reasons, they need blood,” stated Ibaria. She added that those who give blood will receive a free shirt, a pair of socks, some snacks, and a slice of pizza. Students donating were called out of one of their classes and went to the gym to get their screening done, after that they waited to be called to one of the buses, donating blood only takes around eight to ten minutes. After that, you will sit for a while to make sure you don’t go back to class and pass out. Additionally, she says that it is essential to eat a healthy meal and drink a lot of water the day before and the day of, according to her a healthy meal is, “a lot of protein and something heavy.”  A risk she has observed amongst students is lying about eating a meal before, doing so puts them at risk

      A lot of students on campus got a permission slip, they want to donate blood for many different reasons, Justin Hernandez who is a senior is one of those students. Hernandez has never donated blood and is willing to do it for a good cause. He thinks it is worth it for people to donate, “I think it’s worth it because you’ll be helping a lot of people who need it.” Hernandez thinks he would do it again and would encourage people to donate blood to help people.

     Junior, Genesis Lopez is also willing to give blood. I want to donate blood because I believe it’s great that our school gives us the opportunity to help those in need. Lopez is looking forward to giving blood because she likes knowing that she is helping others as much as she can and, on top of that, it will allow her to get out of class. Although Lopez has never donated blood, she would do it again, because even though the amount of blood isn’t a lot she is at least making somewhat of a difference.