Student Council’s blood drive will be held in the arena foyer on Thursday, Nov. 4 starting at 8 a.m. and ending at 3:30 p.m. Students 17 and older, faculty and parents can all participate. The goal is to donate 150 units of blood, which equals 245 donors. The blood will be going to Carter Blood Care, which the school has been partnering with for more than 26 years.

“Other places have come to us and I’ve researched them,” student activities director Allison Stamey said. “The reason I stay with Carter is because they keep the blood local, so our community can use the blood.”

Stamey and student body community service officer Pedro Garcia have worked to recruit as many students and staff as possible. Participants do not have to be vaccinated, they must bring permission slips from a parent or guardian saying they can donate, and they must be over 110 pounds. There’s a sign-up sheet, QR code and a link to sign up. 

StuCo will have two drives this school year; the second one is Monday, April 4. Because of COVID, the number of donors last year was significantly low. Stamey and Garcia hope to surpass last year’s number.

“Last year we didn’t have a lot of people donate blood, obviously because of COVID-19, so I just hope to increase those numbers,” Garcia said. “Some people may enjoy giving blood, and I hope to give them the opportunity to in high school.”

If students, for whatever reason, can’t donate blood on Nov. 4, they can talk to a StuCo member and ask about other drives Carter is doing.

“I’ll tell you what hurts girls: iron,” Stamey said. “So we always tell the girls ‘Please take a vitamin three or four days before’ because when girls go to donate, even boys, their iron levels are so low they can’t donate. Honestly, we turn away at least 25% due to low iron.”

Carter Blood Care is also hosting a drive on Tuesday, Nov. 23 at Soulman’s Bar-B-Que on Main Street, which they have asked the school to promote and recruit for. Stamey and Garcia want as many eligible students as possible to participate.

“It’s honestly about helping others,” Garcia said. “They say one pint of blood saves three lives, so like one pint of blood could save three people. If high schoolers could do that, plus they get a free T-shirt, it would help a lot of people.”