Milton Area High School has held two American Red Cross blood drives over the 2025-2026 school year.
Health Careers Teacher Ms. Samantha Neitz helped coordinate the most recent blood drive on March 20.
Ms. Neitz said that she hopes the blood drives will stay for years to come. The March drive exceeded their goal of 20 units, thanks to having it open to the public too, she added.
“This past drive we had it open to the public, not just the students,” she said, adding that they collected 32 units in just one day.
“It’s good so the community who wants to give blood can,” she said, adding that 20 students and staff donated blood; the rest was community.
The purpose of the blood drives is to raise awareness on the donation process. “It makes people aware. There is always a shortage, and it is important to have all blood types,” Ms. Neitz explained.
According to Ms. Neitz, anyone who is 16 and up can donate, but 16-year-olds do need parent permission. Some precautions donors should take before they give blood are to drink a lot of water the day before and to eat breakfast or lunch. “Make sure you eat an hour or two before you give blood,” Ms. Neitz added.
Ms. Neitz said there aren’t any major side effects to giving blood. “Some people get nauseous or lightheaded,” she added. The process only takes about an hour to donate.
According to Ms. Neitz, the American Red Cross is good with screening, asking many questions to make sure the donors are currently healthy enough to give blood.
The previous blood drive was directed by Co-Op Education Coordinator Ms. Amanda Smith and took place in October.
According to Ms. Smith, the number of donations increased from October.
Ms. Smith said Milton has been doing blood drives at the school for a long time. “I would say back into the early 2000s or even further back,” she added. According to Ms. Smith, Milton started the blood drives with the intention of giving back to the community.
According to Ms. Neitz, the next blood drive will be held next school year sometime in October; the date isn’t set yet.
