Huntley High School students and staff participated in the Student Council Blood Drive sponsored by Lifesource on Nov. 16. For the past five years, Student Council has organized blood drives that take place twice during the school year and once over the summer.

“I’ve been volunteering since my sophomore year,” said Brooke Wold, a Student Council member. “I have a blood disorder [and] I can’t donate, so I do my part by volunteering.”

About 300 people showed interest in donating blood by signing up. Over 200 of those who signed up donated a pint of blood. There were students, teachers, staff, O-negative donors, A-positive donors, first-time donors, and third-time donors who participated.

“I decided to donate blood because it saves three lives,” junior Alyssa Lucian said.

One pint of blood can save three lives; 200 donations equal 200 pints of blood, which means more than 600 lives are saved. Donating blood may sound painful and quite terrifying to some people, but many believe the effect is entirely worth it.

“I donate blood because I morally feel it’s right,” said junior Braeden Clements.

Many other students whether they were waiting to donate, eating snacks after donating or just volunteering, felt donating blood was worth it if it helped save lives.

The overall turnout was not much different compared to the last blood drive, but every donation counts. There will be another blood drive in the spring, which means yet another opportunity for those who donated today and new donors to participate. Some people are not able to donate blood, but they can still show support by taking part in other ways.

“This is my first year donating blood,” said junior Henna Hakala. “If you’re able to donate blood, there’s no excuse not to.”