Edina High School held its biannual Red Cross Blood Drive again on Tuesday, March 6th. Student Council organized the drive, and senior Loic Attikossie, junior Maggie Stang and sophomore Anna Copman were in charge. This spring’s blood drive included a few minor changes that seemed to have a major effect.

With approximately 200 EHS students willing to participate, the blood drive is always in need of more staff. This time Student Council made that happen, and by adding just five more workers, the lines were shorter, and the event ran more smoothly. “We did have extra staff this time, and they were also more experienced and better adjusted with the new technology,” commented Attikossie.

Another thing that improved the most recent drive was that Student Council was stricter about appointment times. “We did not let people in unless they had signed up for that specific time,” explained Attikossie. Although some walk-ins were allowed, students had to sign up for an available opening.

A more efficient blood drive was just what Student Council needed this spring as the number of students donating blood was up. “Compared to the fall, we had more sophomores donate this time because more of them are 16 now. It’s cool to see that a lot of kids are willing to sign up,” exclaimed Stang.

Although Student Council makes the blood drive look easy, it is still a lot of work to put on. From delivering passes to the students, which according to Attikossie some teachers accidentally leave in their mail-boxes, to convincing students to sign up (though one pint of blood saves up to three lives), it took Student Council a lot of sweat and tears to collect this spring’s blood.