The Beaver Area Student Council has planned their first (of what they hope to be many) annual blood drive!

This blood drive was seen as a success with more than 20 people donating—and with one donation being able to save three lives, the StuCo hopes to make this an annual event.

Senior Charlotte Shultz, president of the council, proposed the idea for the blood drive last year and pitched it to StuCo sponsor Mr. Dane Schlenke.

Both Mr. Schlenke and the district administration loved the idea to bring back the blood drive, and wanted to open it up to the community. Blood drives were common at Beaver Area High School in the past but haven’t happened regularly in nearly 20 years.

This led to the decision for the blood drive to be after school September 12 from 3-7 p.m.

Participants signed up via a QR code shared on posters throughout the school and then showed up during their designated donation time.

The blood drive was handled by Vitalant, a nationwide blood donation organization, and not the Red Cross due to scheduling conflicts.

Mr. Schlenke explained that “There's a great need among blood banks currently for donations, and we're excited to bring this event back to Beaver Area High School. What began as an idea from some Student Council members last spring has led to this blood drive, and we're hopeful to get a great turnout!"

In order to donate, donors had to meet certain requirements. A donor had to be at least 16 years of age, weigh 110 pounds, and pass a simple iron (anemia) screening.

Blood donors could donate whole blood or “power red” blood. The whole blood donation is the classic blood drive donation, while power red allows you to safely donate two units of red blood cells during one donation.

For a power red donation, the donor's blood goes through a machine which extracts red blood cells while returning plasma and platelets to the donor. This process allows donors to maximize their donation’s impact in the same amount of time.

Donors were given instructions to eat something small before the event and relax during their blood donation.

The whole blood donation process takes 45–60 minutes while power red takes up to 20 minutes longer.

The event was held in the cafeteria. Following giving blood all donors had to wait 15 minutes while eating a small snack to ensure they weren’t light headed before carrying on with their day.

Shultz explained that “Many clubs in Beaver host annual events that do so much good for our school and community. I am hoping that the blood drive will be the Student Council’s yearly way of giving back. The process has been a breeze thanks to the council and Mr. Schlenke as well as Mr. Snowden for approving our idea!”