Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps held a blood drive on Thursday, April 18 in the senior lot of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Over 50 people donated blood which is around 50 pints of blood.

The blood drive was during all periods, and students had to be 16 or older, not be sick or recently sick with any of the following cold, flu, sore throat, or anything of such nature and weigh a minimum of 110 pounds to be eligible to donate.

Members of JROTC had sign up tables during both A and B lunches in preparation for the event. Students who signed up had to fill out forms to let them be able to get pulled out of class during the event.

“I chose to donate blood because I just want to give back to people who need blood transfusions and whenever anyone’s in the hospital if they ever need blood, I think it’s a good cause to give to,” junior Mickayla Lowe said.

JROTC paired up with OneBlood which is an organization that collects blood and distributes it to hospitals in need. The buses from OneBlood were lined up in the senior lot with tents set up on the sidewalk for students to wait to donate.

“We have different activities that we fundraise for, we have to go to states, we have our military ball at the end of the year and we have awards that we need to fund,” Battalion Commander Elizabeth Velasco said. “The blood we use to raise money for all those things.”

Students who wanted to donate blood were pulled out of class by a JROTC member who escorted them to the senior parking lot. Students then signed in at the front table where they received a number which showed what order they would donate in.

When students went into the red bus they were questioned in order to make sure they could donate, such as if a student had been sick within the past few days or if a student ever donated blood before. If they passed the screening then they were ready to donate. After students were done donating there was a table set up with food and drinks for them.

The blood drive had gone towards helping people in need of a blood transfusion.

“The blood drive is to collect blood and donate it because a lot of people are in desperate need of blood transfusions, but there aren’t enough people having them,” Captain Keiara Martinez said.

The staff team from JROTC were required to help with the blood drive. Normal cadets and leadership members were able to volunteer.

The MSD JROTC normally holds a blood drive about three times a year, but it is sometimes more or less. In years to come, JROTC will continue working with OneBlood to allow more people in need to receive life-saving blood transfusions.