The Red Cross ships blood to approximately 2,500 hospitals and medical facilities daily or stores it for future use. Hospitals and treatment centers will then use the blood for a transfusion given to patients in need.

USC sophomore representative Evan Morris explained how blood collection works: “The donated blood, which is about one pint, is kept on ice and transported to a Red Cross center lab for processing. At the same time, small test tubes of blood are also collected and taken to the lab, where they are tested for type and infectious disease,” Morris said. “If any samples test positive, they are safely discarded, and that information is returned to us.”

More things to note are students must be at least 16 years old to be able to give blood. Additionally, 16-year-olds need permission from their parents. 17-year-olds and older do not require parental consent.

Middle and Upper School Librarian Cat Mullen has donated blood since high school and plans to donate this March.

“[Giving blood] is something that, if you’re able to, is an easy way to give back to help people out. And then you might need it one day too,” Mullen said.

Freshman Ann Li, who has turned 16, also plans to give blood. Like Mullen, she emphasized that the blood drive is an opportunity to help others who will benefit from the blood.

“If [students] have the mindset of ‘someone else will do it,’ I would remind them that many people think that too. So, they need to make the difference,” Li said.

“It might be scary at first or just unknown if you’ve never done it before, but it really isn’t, it’s not painful,” Mullen said. “Try it once, or maybe go and see if you have a friend who would let you watch the process.”

All who plan to participate should fill out a form from the Red Cross that can be found in the email USC sent out on Feb 8. USC will also set up a sign-up table sometime before the day of the blood drive. The blood drive will occur in the small gym on March 5 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.