On November 21, 2022, Hastings High School hosted a blood drive in the Cochran Gym. Through the Red Cross, Hastings Kids, and participation from the community, 37 units of blood were collected from 42 donors. 

The idea for a blood drive came from Natalie Romero, a sophomore at Hastings High School. Natalie’s inspiration for taking on this project originated from a personal medical experience this past summer. 

“I had a ruptured appendix [] and the nurses were always talking about how there was a blood shortage so I wanted to do something to act on that because my stay at the hospital was so miserable” she expressed. 

Natalie brought the idea to the Hastings Kids Youth Council which then helped set the drive up. From there, she planned out ways to spread the news and communicated with the community to make sure the drive would run smoothly. Flyers were handed out in the high school lobby along with lifesavers to represent the lives that would be saved by the donors. The drive was also published in the Hastings E-blast emails to help get the word out. 

Blood donations are a way to make a positive impact on the world. According to the Red Cross, the US is in its first ever “blood crisis,” mostly due to complications in collecting blood due to Covid-19 and the restrictions it brought regarding gatherings. This is why it is important to make the change we can locally by hosting these blood drives.

  An anonymous power red donor, a particular type of donor that gives both platelets and blood, expressed that he was “glad he could be a part of the project and help the community.” Hosting the drive within the community helped it gain more exposure to potential donors and made it convenient and close. It was also important to them to get students to participate by either giving blood or volunteering to help sign donors in. 

On March 16, a second blood drive will take place at the James Harmon Community Center in Hastings from 1:00-6:00. This will be a great opportunity for Hastings to save more lives with the help of more blood donors. Hopefully this drive can be as successful as the last!