(hover over photo for caption and click to proceed to next photo.)
155 students and staff participated in Mountain View High School’s biannual blood drive on Monday Nov. 16, which is hosted in conjunction with the Stanford Blood Center. This year a coupon to a Chipotle Mexican Grill was given to those who donated.
The goal of this blood drive was to collect 89 units of blood. A unit is about 2 or 3 products, each of which can be used for a procedure. This blood can be used for a variety treatments, such as to treat blood cancer, replenishing blood trauma victims have lost, or helping the body accept a transplanted organ.
Natalie Brown, the Associated Student Body Public Relations Officer, was heavily involved in the planning of the blood drive and helped to “coordinate the blood donations and provide notice to the Mountain View High School community about the event,” Brown said.
Planning for the event began early at the beginning of the school year.
“The most important part of planning the event is making sure that all of the students are aware when the event is taking place, as it can only be successful if a lot of students participate,” Brown said.
Clayton Toller, an account representative from the Stanford Blood Center, was the liaison for the MVHS Drive. He worked with the members of ASB to help plan the blood drive. Toller is one of four account representatives for the Bay Area. The four conduct about 100 blood drives per month.
Toller emphasized the specific timing of MVHS’ blood drive as very important.
“We will go into shortages especially during holiday times, such as during Thanksgiving and Christmas, which is why [the MVHS] blood drive on this date is so important to us because we are nearing a shortage time… Each product saves or impacts a life,” Toller said.
Additionally, Toller noted that MVHS is one of the few schools to still host two blood drives, making it a very significant contributor of blood to the community.
Senior Devon Bartlett participated in the blood drive for the first time ever.
She was motivated to donate as “it seemed like a good opportunity. It’s not that difficult and it’s any easy way to give back to people. It was really weird. It wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be.”
The weirdest part, in Devon’s experience, was “feeling the warmth of the blood being drawn.”