On Jan. 30, ETHS hosted a blood drive at the school for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. Many students came to donate, and their contributions came at a key time, as the United States is in the midst of a country-wide blood shortage.

The drive was organized by the ETHS Health Center Ambassadors Club who partnered with Vitalant, a nonprofit healthcare organization focused on blood donations that works with many high schools in the Chicagoland area, getting 30 percent of its donations from high school students. For many blood drives, a younger audience increases the amount of blood collected.

“High school blood donations are important because that is the first time they are donating blood, and as people get older they become less likely to donate blood,” said Karen Murphy, a Vitalant employee who helped coordinate ETHS’ blood drive.

The age limit for donating blood was 16 years old, so most students were eligible for participation.

“I turned 16 recently and since I qualified I thought I might as well help. There is also a national blood shortage so helping will be good,” said sophomore Tayyab Khan.

Overall, the organizers of the event saw a satisfactory turnout. Participants enjoyed a cookie afterwards, and the blood will be donated to hospitals for use in many different procedures.

If you are interested in donating blood, locations and dates of other blood drives can be found at vitalant.org.