Every two seconds, someone, somewhere in the USA needs a blood donation. One person alone can save up to three lives with a single donation… but what happens when a whole school bands together to make a difference? Well, that’s exactly what Key Club set out to do a few years ago, and it’s still going strong today. 

“It’s really good… to be able to see the effects of it in person,” says Milagros Ortega, President of Key Club. “We see how many students are involved in it, we see how many lives are saved from it.” 

Each year, there are four blood drives, all sponsored by OneBlood. You’ve probably seen the big red buses in the school parking lot before as their big, red exterior is pretty hard to miss. Each student who participated was given free pizza in exchange for donating one pint of blood, and there were about 70 students who participated. 

According to the OneBlood website, each pint of blood collected can save up to three lives, meaning that somewhere around 70 pints of blood were collected, having the capacity to save 210 lives; lives that Pembroke Pines Charter High School saved all with their very own blood. 

“We’re getting like hundreds of lives saved from donations from our one school, so it’s really amazing to just see that,” Ortega continues. She elaborated on the fact that not only did around 70 people come to the blood drive, but 70 people come to the blood drive 4 times per year. At the most, that’s 840 lives saved per year, around two-fifths worth of our entire school’s population saved in one year just because of the efforts of one school. 

It’s not just the organizers that are so passionate about the blood drives. Many students throughout the school are dedicated to donating whenever they can. Emma Jane-Hinton shared her story on why she likes to donate to the drive. “So, I have a brain tumor,” she began. “And I did chemo. Chemo kills all of your cells to get rid of whatever it is hurting your body, so because of that, your red blood cells, all of that is depleted. And you have to do transfusions of blood to replace it. I needed blood to be donated to me.” Because of her experiences, she has a unique perspective on the struggles of someone who needs blood donated, and felt that it was important for her to donate as well to help someone going through a similar situation to the one she was in. “I feel that it was important to donate to others to help them as well.”

The whole drive is made possible by OneBlood, one of three of the biggest blood donation organizations in South Florida. 

OneBlood often partners with schools, community centers, churches, and big events to bring in volunteers for the drives in exchange for pizza and cookies. “From schools to businesses, religious organizations to community gatherings, the Big Red Bus can roll up just about anywhere there are blood donors ready to save lives,” writes their official website. There’s a representative from OneBlood that meets with Key Club and the school administration, and is given dates for the drive the year prior, at which point it will be confirmed with Mrs. Battle. Then, they’ll figure out how many people are coming, work out how many chairs are needed, and pick out a theme, and all the other things like food and tables. 

These blood drives have been regarded as a great success by many students and Key Club members, so it’s likely that many more are still to come. Key Club president Milagros Ortega offers her advice to someone who’s on the fence about donating in the future. “It saves up to three lives, and is a really good cause.” Others, like Emma Jane-Hinton, shared as well. “Do it for sure. It’s an important thing.” Donations to causes like OneBlood save lives, and cost you hardly anything. Maybe next time around, you could join the cause and save lives, as well.