HOSA students sponsored a blood drive benefitting the Central Texas Blood and Tissue Center in the school parking lot April 8.

“The idea that my blood could save someone’s life motivated me to donate,” senior Betty Mekonnen said. “I just wanted to help out.”

Hospital patients often require blood transplants or transfusions, some requiring donated blood daily. However, there is a limit to the blood storage, and the different types of blood pose an additional obstacle. The blood students donated added to the blood reserves and ultimately helped others in need. According to the American Red Cross, every two seconds, a person in the U.S. needs blood.

“I know friends who couldn’t donate blood so I wanted to donate,” senior Jeremy Lee said. “It was fun and I would do it again.”

Blood donors have restrictions, which include weighing at least 110 pounds and be at least 17 years old. There are also height restrictions. Donors must also sleep enough to feel healthy in order to be eligible.

“We had so many students volunteering to donate blood that we could’ve used another bus,” HOSA sponsor Lynn Matthews said. “Next year we might need two buses.”