Blood is the human body’s most important tool. With it, we are able to perform basic bodily functions that keep us alive. However, due to the human body being susceptible to damage, some people may be unable to recover from lost blood after a traumatic event. According to the Red Cross, every two seconds someone in the U.S needs blood, which equivalates to around 36,000 units of blood per day. Each year, over 21 million blood components are transfused in the U.S, and the main type of blood requested by doctors is Type O, which is also the most common blood type. Type O also happens to be the universal donor blood type, which means that it can be transferred to anyone, not matter what blood type they have. However, due to shortage of blood in the country, people are having major surgeries postponed or even cancelled due to this. That’s why on Wednesday, March 1, senior students at Fossil Ridge High School hosted a blood drive for a service project.

Students from all across the school came to donate their blood for the betterment of mankind. Jeremy Hale, a sophomore student at Fossil and first time blood donor, said, “Since I had problems with my blood in the past, it’s really nice giving back the community like this. I thought that if people like this helped me, maybe I should help them too.”

Josh Haslet, another donor, was also happy to give his blood. He stated, “I just really like helping people out. It’s always nice trying out new experiences, while at the same time helping people out. It was a really humbling experience.”

According to an organizer of the event, Maddux Kimball, “53 whole blood pints and 2 ALYX  points (where only the red blood cells are taken) were donated. They said that for a high school blood drive this was unheard of and to put it in perspective, they estimated they would only get 26 points. We all worked hard and in the end, due to all the time and energy put in, we were able to save upwards of 163 lives.”

With the help of students and staff not only giving their blood to help someone else, but to also educate others on the importance of donating blood to help their communities, more people can be saved from this preventable disaster. That, and students who donate also get a free cookie.