by: Nohea Jensen, Tenya Avila, Emily Stumpf

January is National Volunteer Blood Donor Month in the U.S. At MHS, a group of seniors decided to hold a blood drive for their Project Citizen. Holding the drive during school hours provided students with the opportunity to donate blood and help those in need.

Inspired by family and friends who have needed blood transfusions, seniors Ellie Taylor, Paige Winegar, Hayden Leatham and Brooklyn Morrill wanted to find a way to give back. Taylor has never donated before, but she has signed up this year and hopes to meet the requirements to be able to donate.

“ I [have] talked to a lot of high schoolers and a lot of them are afraid of needles which I understand, ‘cause they’re scary,” said Taylor. “So just think of the people that you could be helping.”

Junior Marissa Bunnell is a first time donor, and her reason for donating is to give back. She said that since it is blood donation month it would bring more awareness. Bunnell hopes that her donation will make people happy and impact their lives.

“If it were you, or someone else in a position that needed blood, you would hope that someone would donate it for you so that you would be able to get the blood you needed.” Bunnell said.

Junior Spencer Olsen is also signed up to donate blood with Bunnell on January 17. He has donated three times before, and has had a good experience every time. Olsen started donating blood because he wanted to save people’s lives and this was the best way to do that.

“If you’re afraid of needles, it’s just one little poke in your arm. It’s not like what the people that are on the other end are going through. Those people have been in pain for years, maybe their whole life. You can suck it up for a good fifteen minutes, and you can save people’s lives,” Olsen said.