Freedom High School has donated blood consecutively for over 25 years; this year the Health Careers Club did not intend on letting that tradition die. On Dec. 13, the American Red Cross hosted yet another successful blood drive. Mrs. Adams – the school nurse and sponsor of the Health Careers Club – along with Senior Kaylin Vickinovac, worked to make this a successful blood drive. This blood drive, in particular, is Vickinovac’s senior project. “I’m going to college for pre-medicine, and the next 16 years of my life will be learning as much as I can about the human body,” Vickinovac said. “This is just a small start.” There were some minor side-effects students suffered from donating blood. Dizziness and light-headedness were the most common, as well as bruising from the hemoglobin check. “Well, it felt good knowing I was helping people,” Senior Mackenzie McGurgan said. “As I passed out I still felt good but very embarrassed.” Twenty-four people participated to give the American Red Cross Association a total of 24 pints of blood. Some willing donors did not me the criteria of blood pressure, height, weight, and hemoglobin levels. Freedom High School has donated blood consecutively for over 25 years; this year the Health Careers Club did not intend on letting that tradition die. On Dec. 13, the American Red Cross hosted yet another successful blood drive. Mrs. Adams – the school nurse and sponsor of the Health Careers Club – along with Senior Kaylin Vickinovac, worked to make this a successful blood drive. This blood drive, in particular, is Vickinovac’s senior project. “I’m going to college for pre-medicine, and the next 16 years of my life will be learning as much as I can about the human body,” Vickinovac said. “This is just a small start.” There were some minor side-effects students suffered from donating blood. Dizziness and light-headedness were the most common, as well as bruising from the hemoglobin check. “Well, it felt good knowing I was helping people,” Senior Mackenzie McGurgan said. “As I passed out I still felt good but very embarrassed.” Twenty-four people participated to give the American Red Cross Association a total of 24 pints of blood. Some willing donors did not me the criteria of blood pressure, height, weight, and hemoglobin levels. “You need to have a 12.5 percent iron level; I had a 12.4,” Senior Sara Allego said. Each donor had to meet certain requirements in order to donate. According to the American Red Cross Association, the requirements for students are: boys who are shorter than 5’ and girls who are shorter than 5’6” must weigh more than 110 pounds, depending on their height. Other requirements were that the student donating pass a health history interview as well as a mini-physical, in which the phlebotomists tested temperature, blood pressure and hemoglobin level in a small sample of the donor’s blood, prior to donating. “You never know when it may be your mother, father, brother or sister, or aunts and uncles that may need the blood,” Mrs. Adams said. One in seven people entering a hospital needs blood. According to America’s Blood Centers, each year 4.5 million Americans will need a blood transfusion.