Like gasoline to a car, blood is the fuel that keeps our bodies alive. Too little, or too dirty, in a sense, will cause a number of health concerns to an individual. That’s where blood drives come in.

Everyday, people are in need of blood, whether it be in severe trauma to the body, or even through means of blood transfusions.

On March 1st, the DECA Club of Pat-Med High School held another blood drive with the New York Blood Center, a major association in blood collection that the school has been working with for years now. Run by Mrs. Mars, a teacher at Pat-Med, students, with parental permission, volunteered to donate blood to help save three lives each.

The New York Blood Center Enterprise, or NYBC Enterprise, a corporation in charge of its New York branch among its connection with other states, obtains a total of 940,000 collections a year from donors, helping to save more than one million lives annually.

And, according to the NYBC Enterprise’s community report, over $500 hospitals are served and provided the blood from donations across the Northeastern region of the United States, and over $500 million was made in revenue, contributing to medical research conducted by the organization as well.

This blood drive would have been my fourth time donating blood, and there’s much more than meets the eye. Volunteers must first answer several health questions on a computer to first see if one is qualified for donating blood. Then, should you pass the questions, your blood must be tested to see that it’s nutrients and oxygen level are normal and suitable for collection.

Many don’t realize that your blood quality, among your weight and height, are major factors that deny  someone the opportunity to donate. However, you don’t need to give blood to help out.

If you are interested in assisting the next blood drive, you can speak to Mrs. Mars for participating and acting as escorts or to organize paperwork and check volunteers in.

Although you may get dizzy at the end of your donation as I did, you will have the satisfaction and pride in knowing that you helped a person live another day, and nothing beats that.