Students and community members lined up to donate blood for Leadership’s annual Blood Drive on Friday. The drive was located in the PAC Cafe, open all day for walk-in donations from locals and donation time slots occupied by M-A students.
Run by Leadership’s Blood Drive Committee, the drive took hard work and dedication to plan. To lighten their workload, the committee outsourced help from other Leadership students who helped with recruitment and management. “This year we had every Leadership student sign up around 10 people to volunteer and give blood,” committee member and junior Avery Williams said. “Then, we email them, send them a link for sign ups, and they [choose] their time slot.”
The drive, purposely placed during Valentine’s Day week, evoked themes of care and generosity. “We have a theme of love, service, and donation, it’s a very fun environment,” Williams said.
In partnership with M-A, the Blood Drive is run through Stanford Blood Center. “We partner with them every year, and they are great communicators, they help us be successful,” Williams said. Nurse practitioners who specialize in blood donation assist students and safely collect the blood during the drive. “We have a lot of staff because [M-A] got a lot of signups, we have two head nurses, and our various phlebotomists,“ Stanford Blood Center’s Account Manager April Walsh said. “My favorite part is just the enthusiasm that we get from the student body to help us with our mission of saving lives, everyone’s in a good mood and happy to be here,” she said.
Students and community members began to arrive around 8:30 a.m. After signing in, each person received a brown bag with snacks and drinks, keeping the energy levels up and lowering the risk of fainting or dizziness. Students sat down to eat while staff checked their vitals. Once they were cleared, they began the blood donation process.
For many students, donating blood is a source of great excitement. “I’m excited because last year I wasn’t [16], so this year I get to do it,” junior Atessa Gholamy said.
Others said previous experience calmed them down.“I wasn’t feeling super nervous since I’ve gotten my blood drawn before,” senior Elise Koo said.
However, for some, the idea of donating blood can cause anxiety. “I’ve been avoiding doing anything blood-related, and I figured a low-stakes blood drive would get me into feeling more comfortable,” junior Lucy Westwood said.
One of the main reasons the drive draws so much support is its direct impact. Each donation helps save lives, since thousands of patients rely on blood transfusions every day. “Last year we ended up with around 300 lives saved or supported from the blood drive,” Williams said. Currently, blood Type O (O negative and O positive) faces the highest demand and the shortest supply. Since hospitals rely on it for emergency transfusions, it plays a critical role when time matters most. “Every two seconds someone is in need of a blood transfusion, so the more blood we collect, the more it benefits our patients,” Walsh said.
From recruitment to recovery snacks, each part of the drive showed planning, teamwork, and purpose. The impact of the M-A blood drive reaches far beyond campus. “I feel like I’m saving lives,” junior Will Torre said.
