The American Red Cross held a blood drive on the Pierce College Mall near the library on Wednesday Feb. 10.
Volunteer Kelli Murnane assigned appointments at the blood drive, which operated between 8 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
“We’ve had more than 60 people volunteer this morning,” Murnane said.
“If the event was going on a little longer, we would have been able to get more candidates to donate,” said Murnane. “By donating blood, you can save at least three lives.”
First year Pierce College student, Alondra Navarrete waited for her appointment to donate blood.
“I’ve donated blood four times before, I’m not really nervous,” Navarrete said.
Mehrnaz Siavoshi, first year Pierce College student, also donated blood today. This is Siavoshi’s fourth time donating blood.
“I feel a little tired, but I’m happy that I did it. Every time you donate, [American Red Cross] send’s you a postcard with the person’s name who got your blood, and that’s a really awesome feeling,” said Siavoshi.
Pierce College alumn, Greg Edwards, R.N., was on staff at the event.
“We got a really good crowd. A lot of people had stepped up and donated blood today. A lot of first timers, which is kind of a scary thing when you’re facing a needle, but we’ve had a lot people coming out, so it was really good.” Edwards said.
According to Edwards, the American Red Cross comes by Pierce College up to three times a year.
“I would definitely recommend it, it’s a little scary, but the first couple of times it gets easy.” Siavoshi said.
