On Friday, Nov. 2, RHS Student Government (StuGo) will be holding its semiannual blood drive. Anyone who is 16 and older is eligible to give blood and encouraged to do so. Senior Catie Troy is the head of this event, and she worked with an organization called Michigan Blood to put it together.

“We meet with our Michigan blood representative, and her name is Amanda Hatfield,” said Troy. “She gives us our packet with the green forms that we copy and [donors] fill out, and she gives us our access pass to coordinate online and schedule.”

StuGo’s purpose is to serve the community and the school, and blood drives they host are one way they accomplish this goal.

“Our committees are broken up into how we service the community and the school, so DoSo puts on this event, and DoSo stands for Do Something,” said Troy. “So, our job is to connect to the community, do something impactful for citizens and everyone around us, so giving blood is a way we can help others in need and help save lives.” 

This year, all the donated blood is going to Ascension Crittenton, the hospital across the street from RHS.

“Usually, [the blood] goes to Beaumont, but this year, they partnered with Crittenton, so that’s really cool,” said Troy.

It is not too late to sign up for this event. According to Troy, there are still many slots available.

“So far, we have 28 out of 66 slots,” said Troy. “We have 98 slots available, but we try to fill the 66- that’s our goal.”

To sign up to give blood, pick up a form during lunch at the senior doors or in the mall. Fill it out, and turn it in by Thursday, Nov. 1. Anyone who is 16 needs parental consent, but students 17 or over do not.

“Donate blood and save three lives,” Troy said.