DHS prides itself in the ability to help the community and people in need. This is mostly carried out by the clubs and various groups around DHS and usually limited to Midland. However, four times a year DHS students are presented with the opportunity to help people not only in Michigan but around the country. This opportunity is the blood drive, which is open to all students ages 16 and up.

The blood drive is held by Michigan Blood, as well as a few DHS National Honor Society members who help organize the students and their blood donating appointments.

Many people believe that the process is a quick and simple one. A person first makes an appointment, usually days before the drive. Then the person arrives at the gym and fills out a short questionnaire and then take a seat watching a movie and eating pretzels. After a short wait each person is selected individually to be screened and for their iron percentage. Once completed and another bag of pretzels is consumed, they find themselves in a chair which is the beginning of the procedure. Then the part that scares many people happens; the inserting of the needle. However, with the great staff used by Michigan Blood the procedure has minimal pain and is over before you know it.

“Donating blood is such a great way to help others, it’s quick and easy, and the staff is always really helpful and friendly,” senior Megan Bausch said.

This idea is shared by most students who donate blood, however, there can be with everything in life mistakes. On rare occasions the needle can fall out or when entering the skin the needle can miss the blood vessel or more seriously burst it. However, the chances of these events happening is statistically very small. Most students are a fan of the idea of missing class to go to the gym to watch movies and eat snacks, all the while helping people in need.

The results for the blood drive were a total of 85 potential donors coming to the clinic and a whopping 62 donations were made. Although the total goal by Michigan Blood was around 70 donations, they were very satisfied.

This was not the only school blood drive. There are still three more blood drives coming to DHS with one of them being in the summer. Seniors Meagan Dean and Karina Zanyk Mclean and juniors Josh Pasek and Amy Sklenar were the organizers of this year’s blood drive.