Senior Morgan Hajeck partnered with the Fellowship of the Christian Athletes (FCA) club to host a blood drive on December 6. The drive was held in honor of the victims of the Las Vegas shooting, where 59 people died and 489 were wounded.

“I am actually a survivor of the Las Vegas shooting. I was actually at the concert when everything happened. So this is definitely something that is near and dear to my heart and really important to me,” said Hajeck.

The blood harvested will not go directly to the Las Vegas victims but instead helps others in the community. According to the San Diego Blood Bank, the blood goes to cancer patients, people in need of transfusions, emergency rooms, and in transplants.

Currently, our blood banks are short on supply because of the large number of recent natural disasters and emergencies, like mass shootings and wildfires. The San Diego Blood Bank also reports cyclically low donation rates around the holidays.

Certain types of blood are especially hard to find. Only 6.7% of the population has O negative blood, and the rarest type, AB negative, is found in only 0.5% of the population. The supply of these blood types is consistently lacking.

To give blood students must have been at least 16 years old and 114 pounds, as dictated by federal regulations.

To organize the event, Hajeck had to get permission from the school and the blood bank. She also had to get sponsorship from a club.

FCA created a schedule to determine when students would give blood, and it supplied the volunteers for the event.

Junior Sam Stewart, a volunteer donor, said, “I just wanted to help someone. I know that a lot of people have a fear of needles, but I don’t. I thought this was the perfect way for me to contribute.”

Hajeck is really pleased with the success of the blood drive. In total, they received 58 blood donations, collecting 1 pint of blood from each person.

Students and staff donated enough blood to save up to 174 lives, as each pint can be used to contribute to up to three people.