CCHS holds annual Red Cross blood drive

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

Donations have been a hot topic this week in the Charles City School District.

On Monday, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds made “Logan’s Law” official, when she signed it into law in front of a large gathering at Charles City Middle School. The law, named for Charles City’s Logan Luft, lets Iowans put a symbol on their hunting and fishing licenses indicating they wish to be an organ donor.

On Thursday, Charles City High School students and the Red Cross hosted an annual blood drive at the high school gym. Charles City sophomore Lilly Usher, one of the five students who helped to organize the event, said the same basic principles apply.

“One donation saves three lives,” said Usher, who is helping manage the event for the second year. “That’s huge. There’s a need for blood, so this is important. Even if you don’t want to be an organ donor, being a blood donor is a another good way that you can give back to people and still save lives.”

Senior Samantha Heyer, who has participated in organizing the blood drive for several years now, said that it’s been easier this year to find willing donors.

“This year has been great, because we’ve had a lot of students who have reached out willingly,” Heyer said. “I haven’t had to pry to convince them to donate, and we’ve had quite a few walk-ins, which is good.”

Usher said that while high school teacher Donna Forsyth helps to facilitate the event, it’s essentially organized by CCHS students.
“It’s all-student run,” she said. “It’s not for a particular class, it’s for students who are mostly interested in the medical field.”

Both Usher and Heyer said they intend to pursue careers in medicine. They said things were going smoothly Thursday.

“Some people are very nervous. We have some problems with people who don’t have enough iron or they don’t weigh enough, so they may get turned away,” Heyer said.

Blood donors must be at least 110 pounds, and have to be 17 years or older to donate, unless they have a permission slip from a legal guardian.