Sanford Hosts Blood Drive

The annual Sanford Blood Drive took place on February 28th this year and numerous students and faculty participated. The Delmarva Blood Bank came to the school and set up their blood drive in the AI. Dupont Library. The Delmarva Blood Bank is a nonprofit organization that provides blood to 19 different hospitals on the Delmarva Peninsula.

79,000 donations are needed each year for the Delmarva blood bank alone, which is about 217 donations per day. This year Sanford donated about 35-40 units of blood, which is about 18.5% of the daily need. Upper School math teacher Thomas Whipple was one of the main organizers of the event, and he believes that this year’s drive was a success.

“This year’s blood drive was pretty good, but we did have some spots open, ” said Whipple.

Whipple has been a regular donor to the blood drive and has stressed his opinion on the importance of donating blood. “It’s a no-brainer, if I can save someone’s life just for a few seconds of discomfort, that’s well worth it,” said Whipple. Moving forward, one thing Whipple believes will increase the amount of donors is having young teens start donating early, and have them try to get their friends to donate as well. “I’d like to have more students who have donated before talk about it, ” said Whipple. Whipple considered the turnout for the blood drive a success, and the experience from the students was overall positive. Eva Sawdey, class of 2023, was one of the students who participated in the blood drive this year. “I missed a few classes but it was for a good cause,” said Sawdey. After the blood drive, the Delmarva Blood Bank showed their gratitude for the Sanford donors by writing handwritten notes to those who donated.