Lakeland Regional High School’ Student Council is hosting a Red Cross Blood Drive for the school on November 19, 2024 between 7:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
Student Council, along with advisor, Ms. Nicole DeCarlo, are “looking forward to this event” and hope to “collect more blood than we did last year.” Last year, the event saw 36 donations and collected 39 pints of blood.
If you’re interested in donating there are some guidelines you should be aware of. Ms. DeCarlo has stated that only Lakeland student and staff will be able to donate at this event. Additionally, donors have the option of donating Whole Blood or Power Red. Whole Blood is a person’s regular blood with nothing separated out, like red blood cells or plasma.
Whole Blood: In order to donate Whole Blood you have to be at least 16 years old, at a minimum of 110 pounds, in good health, and haven’t donated in the past 56 days.
Power Red: Power Red separates out the red blood cells using a different machine. To donate Power Red, there are different restrictions if you are a male or female. For males, the youngest age to donate is 17 years old, weigh a minimum of 130 pounds, and have to be at least 5 ‘1. Females must be at least 19 years old, at a minimum of 150 pounds, and at the shortest 5 ‘3. Both genders have to make sure that they haven’t donated in the past 112 days.
If you are a minor you must have parental consent, and bring any form of ID to show your proof of age. You can find a parental consent form on the American Red Cross Information for Teen Donors page and you can scroll down to the Parental Consent Form section. If you scroll further you are also able to see what the options are to bring into your appointment for the proof of age requirement. Please note that if you are on any form of medication, or have recently gotten a vaccination there may be restrictions. To find if you’re eligible visit the American Red Cross Eligibility Page.
Blood drives are done all around the world to help patients that need blood so that they can live a healthy life.
(LRHS)
