24 volunteers gave blood this year for Leadership’s annual drive on April 23.  The turnout was 8 more than last year’s total.

“We wanted to give the kids a chance to donate blood because it can be hard to get yourself out there,” said Leadership’s Commissioner of Tech and Video sophomore Owen Lekki.

The class wanted participating students to take advantage of the easy opportunity to save lives, according to the Commissioner of Philanthropy sophomore Lars Ahrens. “Donating blood is very important to our medical systems because 1 donation can save 3 lives,” he said.

The effort collected 28 units of blood, which may save as many as 84 lives.

This year, Leadership partnered with an organization called Vitalant that provided medical equipment for the drive. Vitalant had hopped for a turnout of at least 40. “We have to account for the people who can’t give blood on the day of the drive due to health reasons,” said leadership adviser Lindsay Webb-Peploe.