With COVID still being a persistent issue, nurses are stressed out,and the community needs blood more than ever. Every student who donates can save three people’s lives each with an extraction of their blood and some of their time. 

Fremd will be able to contribute to this demand with the annual blood drive  set to take place on Tuesday, Nov. 23, in the South Gym. Interested students, aged 16 years and older, will need to register, meet certain height and weight requirements, and get parental permission slips signed in order to have their blood drawn. Students can sign up using the QR code Fremd’s Student Council (StuCo) has released on Schoology until Monday, Nov. 22.  

The blood drive has been an annual tradition for Fremd for a number of years. The event is a great opportunity for Fremd juniors and seniors to come together and contribute to the wellbeing of their community while the freshmen and sophomores have an exciting event to look forward to later in their high school career. The executive board of Fremd’s StuCo has been tasked with organizing the event. 

StuCo co-president, senior Sri Pothanker, recalls her past experiences to the Fremd blood drives when she was an underclassman.

“As a freshman, I feel like I always heard people, seniors and juniors, [that] they were all super excited to volunteer or to donate and now that I’m a senior, I think it’s really interesting to kind of see that tradition pick up,” Pothanker said.

Fremd has been in a long standing competition against Palatine High School with the blood drive to collect the most amount of blood. The grand trophy is currently being held by the  Pirates. 

Pothanker encourages eligible students to donate blood. 

“We’re really hoping to ramp up how many people donate blood here so that we can beat the Pirates as well as save other people’s lives,” Pothanker said. “It’s just a win-win situation.”

With COVID-19 having affected the health of the community, this is the time that blood, support, and medical help is needed the most. But due to fear of safety and the risk of getting COVID, the public may be scared to donate blood even when it is a critical time to do so. 

Pothanker describes the effects COVID-19 has had on the health community, and why it is even more important for the blood drive to occur successfully.

“[During] COVID-19 people were less willing to donate blood, and that definitely put a dent in our healthcare infrastructure because that was when people needed blood the most… it’s been a lot of sitting back and accepting what has happened to us, but [this event] is one of the first steps of reemerging, coming back into society, [and] giving back to your community,” Pothanker said. 

The blood drive is not only an event of school spirit and competition but also likely to be a first experience for many high school students. The first time participating in a blood drive for donors tend to become unforgettable memories and key moments in their high school careers.

Not only Pothanker, but the entire StuCo encourages students to participate if they are capable.

“The blood drive in general has always been a huge tradition and [it] feels like a big part of who [Fremd is] because we have so many compassionate students who are willing to donate their blood to good use,” Pothanker said. “That, I think, is one of the things I know a lot of people look forward to.”