With the American Red Cross facing a critical blood shortage due to severe winter weather and the California wildfires, Student Council and Red Cross club are partnering to host a blood drive on Friday, Feb. 21.

The drive, held in the school’s multipurpose room from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., aims to surpass last year’s total of 56 pints collected—enough to save almost 170 lives.

Teachers, according to Student Council sponsor Ricky King, make up about half of Community’s donors, often giving blood during their planning periods or lunch breaks.

With nearly half of Community’s 2,000 students eligible to donate and fewer than 200 staff members, faculty contributions to the blood drive far outnumber those of students.

That low student turnout reflects national trends. Only 3% of age-eligible individuals donate blood each year, according to the Red Cross.

Every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood, and a single car accident victim can require as many as 100 units—making each donor’s contribution vital.

A major barrier to donation, King believes, is fear.

“A lot of times, you might be scared or a little squeamish around blood,” King said.

But, King said, Student Council and Red Cross club volunteers are on hand to help ease nerves.

“Students,” King said, “really take on the role of being an emotional and social support for their peers, for staff members, for adults from the community who have just signed up to come in and donate blood.”

Despite the low percentage of eligible students who donate at school drives, King isn’t discouraged.

“I think there are a lot of students that are really genuinely motivated to donate,” King said, “and do that social good and fill that [societal] need.”

Students and staff can sign up using a QR code on posters displayed throughout the school.

Donors must be 17 or older, or 16 with parent/guardian permission.