June 22, 2004 > Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,

Many times when high school students are featured in the news, like most news stories, it is for bad news. We wanted to let you know about the many wonderful students who by donating blood to the American Red Cross have helped to save more than 21,000 lives during the 2003 - 2004 school year.

We collected more than 7,100 pints of blood during 128 blood drives at 74 high schools throughout Northern California including American (91 pints), Fremont Christian (92), Irvington (253), Kennedy (132), Mission San Jose (160) and Washington High Schools (161) in Fremont, Newark Memorial (88) in Newark, and Logan High School (265) in Union City .Thanks to high school drives, well over 21,000 people may have received the gift of life, as each pint of donated blood can help three people.

Medical advances require more and more blood as our population lives even longer. More blood donors are desperately needed. High school and college blood drives account for 9% of the mobile blood drives we do, yet these students provide 10% of the blood needed in the Bay Area.

For all of this, we wish to recognize the students of American, Fremont Christian, Irvington, Kennedy, Mission San Jose, Washington, Newark Memorial and Logan High Schools for their help.

Sincerely,
Sara O'Brien
Communications Supervisor
American Red Cross, Blood Services, Northern California Region