By Addyson Johnson
ROGERS, ARK. — On the cold fall morning of Nov. 10, a brave group of Haas Hall Academy Rogers scholars waited with eager anticipation to make the donation of a lifetime. After a mere hour, scholars were able to leave The Community Blood Center of the Ozarks’ Bloodmobile with a snack and a sense of satisfaction knowing that their actions made a difference.
Makenna Gigliotti, the president of the Rogers chapter of the Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA), revealed that the club didn’t initially expect a large turnout from both Haas Hall scholars and the Rogers community.
However, according to Gigliotti, 51 lives were saved because “17 people donated blood, a number we were not expecting to see. We were surprised and overjoyed to see so many scholars and parents participating in the drive.”
It was students like junior Viktoria Buckman who helped make these donations possible, in spite of previous apprehension.
Buckman claims, “ I was initially super nervous, but after a while, I realized I was nervous about nothing. The environment was calm and the workers were nice, it made me feel like I was in safe hands.”
While many students felt similarly to Buckman prior to giving blood, the benefits to their donations outweighed any previous nerves.
Gigliotti explained that, “ Knowing how important you truly are in life saving can be a big factor in deciding to donate. I know many people get nervous about needles and worry about their own health so I also encourage people to research the general process of giving and transfusing blood, helping aid in their confidence in donating.”
Although the Community Blood Center of the Ozarks enticed scholars to donate with various snacks and prizes, it was the compassion of the Haas Hall community that truly motivated people to give blood.
“The main reason why I wanted to donate was to get the T-shirt for my little brother since he loves the Chiefs,” Buckman quoted, “ but also because I had the ability to help save lives.”
Due to the amazing turnout at the blood drive, Gigliotti is optimistic about potential donation events in the future.
According to Gigliotti, “HOSA is planning to have another blood drive in the springtime. It will be a similar set up and we will work with the Community Blood Center of the Ozarks again in the Bloodmobile. The current date for the spring blood drive is not set up yet but we do expect a bigger turnout now that scholars and parents experienced it before.”
In the meantime, HOSA is encouraging all members of the community to take time out of their schedules to help save a life.
“Throughout NWA the Red Cross and the Community Blood Center of the Ozarks have several different locations, permanent or semipermanent, where people can visit their website and make an appointment,” Gigliotti explained, “It’s a lot of independent work but having the simple motivation and care to try is important to have in this process.”
