For the fifth year in a row, La Salle students will be flocking to the gym on February 16th in order to donate blood to Bloodworks NW, a nonprofit that supplies blood to roughly 90 hospitals and clinics throughout Washington, Oregon, and Alaska.

The blood drive will be held in the La Salle gym on Thursday, and any students who are at least 16 years old with parental permission and identification have the opportunity to donate blood. The donation is possible because of a partnership between La Salle and the nonprofit organization, which is the chosen and exclusive provider of every Providence and Legacy hospital in Oregon.

Different students have different reasons to donate, but the donated blood from just one person has the possibility to save up to three lives. Blood donations can be given to women with complications in their pregnancies, children with severe anemia, people with severe trauma, cancer patients, and those involved in a variety of complex medical and surgical procedures. Since blood can only be stored for so long, there is a constant need for new blood donations.

Here’s a look at a few of the La Salle students who will be donating:

Rachel Jones, sophomore, has never donated blood before.

“I just turned sixteen, and I’ve always wanted to do it. It always seemed cool, to just donate blood… I think it’s my duty as a citizen.”

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Christian Gomez, junior, has donated blood before.

“Honestly, when I first started donating blood, I thought it sounded kind of cool. I mean, there was no other reason than it was kind of fun.”

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Alexis Han, junior, has never donated blood before.

“You know what, it’s a nice thing to do, and I’ve volunteered at blood drives before – but I’ve never actually been the person actually taking my time to give back.”

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Lydia Pearce, senior, has donated blood before.

“I’m donating blood because I think it’s the right thing to do, and I’m O-negative, so I’m a universal donor.”

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Dominic Colpo, senior, has never donated blood before.

“My dad donates blood a lot, so it’s kind of like… I want to follow him, and also, it’s a good thing to do.”

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Students, staff, and parents are welcome to donate, and there are currently 94 registered donors for the drive. All donors should expect a questionnaire, a pre-donating blood sample, and then a trip to a resting area after donating. The process takes around one hour, though the actual donation only takes about 6 to 10 minutes – it’s a very quick way to save up to three lives. Over five years, La Salle blood drives have collected 207 pints of blood, which means that as many as 600 lives have been saved as a result.