It was a “spooktacular” Halloween at Elder High School this year. Why might one call this a spooky Halloween? Well, a college representative from Transylvania came to Elder, and the Elder fall Blood Drive happened on Halloween this year, too. The Elder blood drive has gone on for over 20 years and Elder has been one of the key places that Hoxworth blood center visits throughout the year to collect the valuable commodity. Hoxworth collected 69 units of purple vivacious blood from the Panthers on Halloween which could potentially help about 207 patients in need of blood. When asked if 69 units of blood was a lot in one collection the Hoxworth volunteer said, “Yes, that is a substantial amount, it really helps too because we have been running low.” One of the kind Hoxworth volunteers gave me the inside scoop on the time it takes to process the blood. “Once the blood is collected it is sent back to the lab and is separated into three different types, platelets, red cells, and plasma after that is done the blood can be ready between 24 or 48 hours,” he said. Giving blood is a vital part of saving lives. Kevin Leugers, one of the many students that gave blood said that he gave because he knows people’s lives depend on it and that anything he can do to help he’ll try and do, and blood is needed every day. According to the Red Cross more than 44,000 donations of blood are needed every day to help patients in need. Also in 2006, more than 5 million patients received the donation of blood. These are some staggering facts and any person’s donation of blood I greatly appreciated, so move out of one’s comfort zone, and donate today. Please note this additional info from Nurse Geisler: Thanks to our Blood Drive Donors and Volunteers: Thanks to all of our volunteers and those who donated blood during the Elder High School Hoxworth Fall Blood Drive held on October 31st, 2012. There were 73 students, staff and faculty members who registered to donate blood. There were 66 donations of which 69 blood products (whole blood and platelets) were donated. Our thanks to the volunteers who did a fantastic job: seniors: Jacob Lindle, Caleb Lottman, Kevin Leugers, Nick Lanza, junior Sam Maciejewski and parent volunteers, Mrs. Judy Maurer, Mrs. Lisa Seiler and Mrs. Kelly Tiernan. Elder High School will have a Hoxworth Spring Blood Drive scheduled for Tuesday, March 26, 2013. Please consider being a blood donor in the future. For every one unit of blood, up to three lives can be saved. You never know, you may someday be the recipient of the generosity of a blood donor. For more information about the blood drives, please contact Mr. Kurt Ruffing, Dean of Discipline or Mrs. Linda Giessler RN, school nurse. For more information and interesting facts about blood donation, visit the Hoxworth web site at: http://www.hoxworth.org/donate_blood/facts.html