By: Nina Peci –

On Monday, Oct. 2, the LSE Wrestling Room was filled with needles, bags of blood, bandages, and most importantly, over 100 students ready to donate blood. Giving blood may seem like a scary task for many people, but not for these young donors.

Every year, Southeast holds two blood drives in collaboration with the Nebraska Community Blood Bank in order to get more donations and raise awareness on how important it is to have citizens regularly donating blood. Only seven percent of the population donates blood, but blood is needed everyday to save lives. Since there is no substitute for human blood, donors are the only source.

This year the blood drive brought in 79 pints of life saving blood – that’s enough to save over 200 lives! It’s important for students to remember that donating blood is more than just missing class and free cookies, but for some people, it’s the difference between life and death. The Nebraska Community Blood Bank estimates that every year, more than four million people get a second chance at life because they received a life saving blood transfusion.

FBLA is now sharing the spotlight with HOSA, collaborating on this drive in hopes that HOSA can run future drives. With future business leaders and future doctors working hand in hand, there’s no doubt that upcoming drives will save more lives than ever before.