Pali hosted its annual blood drive in conjunction with the American Red Cross in the small gym on Thursday, Sept. 19. More than 60 students participated in the drive by donating a pint of blood to help those in need.

Donors were also given the opportunity to participate in the Power Red donation process, which enables people to donate nearly twice the amount of red blood cells through a specific scientific collection process.

Senior ASB representative Lauren Hartog has been in charge of the blood drive for the past three years and described the planning process as “extremely rigorous.” She began by meeting with a Red Cross administrator to discuss logistics, such as the time and place of the event. From there, she created an online signup sheet and spread the word to Pali students through Schoology and various other social media platforms. The remaining time until the event was spent coordinating with Red Cross personnel and Pali faculty.

Before the day of the event, students older than the minimum age of 16 who were interested in donating blood were required to sign up online through the Red Cross website. Minors needed an additional parental consent form in order to donate. Students were then able to choose the time of day in which they wanted to give blood via an online sign-up sheet.

On the day of the drive, four to six students were called in every 15 minutes to donate. The donation process began with Red Cross representatives checking students’ health before they gave blood. Donors were then ushered to their respective blood drawing stations, where they made their donation. Red Cross representatives then provided them with food and water.

Junior Allen Schultz was one of the donors at the event. This was his second year participating in the drive, and he thinks it is “a simple way to help a lot of people.” Schultz is an ASB Leadership member and was a part of the planning process for this event. He says that “helping create and participate in the blood drive has been a really amazing experience.”

Junior Malia Mitchell volunteered to give blood, but was unable to do so on this day. Nonetheless, Mitchell says that the blood drive is an important event that allows her “to give back to communities that are in need.” She says she plans to volunteer again during next year’s drive.

Hartog shares Schultz and Mitchell’s enthusiasm for the blood drive. She says that blood drives at Pali can make a difference in the community, and Hartog was happy to report that “we were able to save a total of 168 lives.”