Ronan High students show up to donate blood

Red Cross blood draw event draws full house

At Ronan High School, the culture of donating blood to save the lives of others has been building for years, Ronan High School librarian Heather Holmlund, said. 

One blood donation can save three lives.

“We’ve been doing this five or six years,” Holmlund, who heads the event, said.

“Someone from Red Cross came to us and the principle at that time said ‘yes.’”

Ronan High School host two blood drives each year in October and March.

Administrators chose the mid-March week because sports schedules are generally at a rest.

“It’s better for their bodies,” she said. “We don’t want to burden them during sports seasons.”

The Red Cross blood donation is popular among students. All of the 40 available appointments were filled before the event began and Holmlund said she had a waiting list of possible donors to replace students who could not make their scheduled appointment.

All students turned in parental permission slips and are prescreened for fever or iron deficiency before giving blood, she said.

Only open to high school juniors and seniors, the official Montana donation age is 16 years old. 

Some students are adamant about donating blood.

Others, like Andrew Koehler, a senior, donated blood for the first time. Koehler was raised in a family who understands the value of Red Cross blood donations. Koehler’s father, David Koehler, donates regularly in Missoula he said.

But it was his friends who got Andrew Koehler over the initial anxiety of donating blood.

Koehler said that he made an appointment before to donate blood and backed out. But this time his friends bet him he wouldn’t do it.

Koehler donated his blood and proved his circle of friends wrong.

Katelyn Graham is a Ronan High School senior who donated her time to the event. Unable to donate blood for health reasons, Graham wanted to give back to the community by donating her time. 

“I feel like I’m doing something,” she said.

Graham received a blood transfusion from another blood donor when undergoing surgery in her past. 

Those who donate blood three times or donate six hours of time volunteering at a Red Cross event receive red cords to wear around their necks at graduation. 

“It’s cool to see all those red cords at graduation,” she said. 

For more information about how to donate blood visit www.redcrossblood.org.