By: Ainsley Northrop

People Editor

On Dec. 1, Los Gatos High School hosted its annual blood drive. Planned by LGHS Leadership students and operated by Stanford Blood Center, the event proved to be an immense success, serving as a fulfilling way for students to help save lives.

Senior class president Kennedy Bahr and senior Abigail Zolla were among the key leaders of the event. Bahr began planning the event by contacting an organizer from Stanford Blood Drive and figuring out logistics, such as the number of tables needed and the number of students that they thought would sign up. Once they completed the initial planning, student planners attended an in-person meeting to secure the event.

This year, to recruit more donors, leadership students set up a table on the front steps. One of the biggest difficulties of hosting the drive was recruiting enough people who met the donor requirements. Bahr explained, “A big struggle was making sure that everyone fit. The height and weight requirements [were] actually really hard for girls to fit if they’re under 19.” 

  Once leadership secured enough donors, students got to work setting up for the big day. The day before the drive, Bahr went to Safeway and bought 60 pints of ice cream, keeping up the school’s tradition of offering a pint of ice cream in exchange for a pint of blood. Leadership also had the responsibility of checking donors in and giving each person a bag of snacks and Gatorade to ensure everyone’s safety.

The blood drive inspired various LGHS students. First-time donor senior Liam Amburgey signed up because he “thought it’d be a fun way to get to help people and [he] hadn’t done it before. It was something [he’d] always been interested in, but was just always too young for.” Despite being nervous at first, he explained that his friends supported him through it, and that donating blood made him proud.  Amburgey added: “It was just a good way to try and give back and help other people…It was super cool. The students who were running it were super nice, and they were really good about it. It was really organized and the doctors were all great. They definitely helped make it smooth [and] easy.” Senior William Radke, another donor, said, “I have plenty of blood and there’s no reason for me not to [donate] it. It takes a little bit out of a singular day and it helps somebody else in the world.”

Bahr concluded by saying, “The day of, when everyone was there donating blood and some people came and did walk-ins and asked to donate, that made me really happy. And then also when I found out how much we had actually gotten…I was really proud of the work that we were doing because donating blood is super important and valuable.” The 2023 fall semester blood drive proved to be a success, helping save the lives of many.