IRVINE- The Beckman Blood Drive took place on October 1 in the Commons in an effort to assist blood banks in stock piling supplies. Red Cross and ASB members, Miriam Ramirez and Alex Javad, hosted the event with ambitious expectations.

The Blood Drive is an annual event at Beckman that is supported by the Red Cross Club in which students donate their blood. From senior, Patriot Ramirez’s point of view, “The students were definitely involved throughout the process and wanted to help out the community.” She believes that the Beckman student body has always found ways to improve and help the community, and this was just another way of showing how much teenagers care. Javad, a senior as well, explained, “Not everyone is fortunate, and there are people who need blood. This cause does allow students to give a part of themselves and lets them realize how precious life really is.” For both Ramirez and Javad, this was a memorable year since they both donated blood themselves. Javad describes his experience: “I have never had an experience like this before, so the feeling of knowing that I could save at least one person’s life is really important to me.”

Though the student body on campus helped out as much as they could, the requirements limited the amount of students that could have donated their blood; requirements included that donators had to have been seventeen or older and over a hundred and ten pounds. It was also mandatory that they have a physical done with a doctor to check iron and blood pressure levels. Ramirez assessed the problem, remarking, “It gets frustrating because of the requirements; there isn’t as much blood donated as there could be.”

However, despite their frustration, both Ramirez and Javad concluded that the Red Cross Club received a great amount of donations. An estimated 50 people donated about one pint per a person to later be distributed to blood banks across Orange County. The blood will be used for patients who need blood transfusions. As a result, the October Blood Drive was considered a success.