NDA held its second of three annual blood drives Tuesday, April 24. The goal for this drive was 50 bags of blood donated out of the 70 people that signed up.

At least four students coordinate, assist, talk to, and assure the health of the student donors  throughout the day of the drive. These include Will Urick, Paul Gapinski, Claire Kini and Claire Sievert.

The biggest challenge to making the goal for blood donated is having people deferred for different reasons, such as weight, height and iron content in the blood.

If the goal for the drive is achieved for all three events, the school is awarded a $1000 scholarship from the Red Cross that can be awarded to a student who has helped out or given blood consistently.

“It is a great thing, we help save lives and I believe in it,” said Daniel Kriegl, campus minister and blood drive coordinator.

Each pint of blood can help three people survive injuries, surgeries or even blood diseases. The NDA community tries to help where they can, said senior Paul Gapinski, who donates “to help people in a way that I can do easily.”

The Red Cross is slightly behind on their goal of blood collection because of the weather in recent months that caused them to cancel drives. This organization collects blood to save many lives or even just give people a few more days with their families.

For any NDA student, parent or faculty member who is interested in giving blood, another drive will be held at school in June.