At least 105 lives will be saved by the amount of blood donated by St. George’s students and faculty on Sept. 12. The blood drive, which was open throughout the school day, was led by senior Hannah Kate McDowell. Of the students and faculty that donated, some individuals were new to the process while others were donation veterans. Senior Robert Grissom donated for the fifth time during the blood drive.

“This is my fifth time donating and my experience was great, as it only took me about six minutes to donate,” Grissom said. “I give blood because I feel like I’m saving lives and really helping people.”

A major reason people don’t give blood is because they fear the pain, but sophomore Laura Beard, who has donated blood three times including last Monday, does not believe the process is very painful.

“My experience today was very positive overall, although I did bleed a lot,” Beard said. “When you are giving blood, there is not a lot of pain involved, just the fear of pain. That fear is kind of justified, though, because you are willingly having pint of blood drained out of you. But really, all that happens is you fill out a sheet saying you do not have any diseases and you are not on some medications, they test your blood, and then you sit there for awhile while your arm goes cold.”

Middle and upper school science teacher Mr. Mike Smothers agrees with this.

“As long as there is a need and I am healthy enough to help out, I will do what I can. If there comes a time when I’m no longer able to donate blood, I hope I can inspire others to do so,” Mr. Smothers said. “I choose to donate blood because, as a humanist, I consider it my ethical and civic responsibility to help others in need when I am able to do so.”

McDowell shares this view on donating.

“Personally, I am not afraid of donating, but others are, and it is a real fear to overcome,” McDowell said. “We would love as many people as possible to donate. The more donations, then the more lives saved.” If you wish to know more, visit lifeblood.org or email McDowell.