Some 155 students suffered the poke of a long needle for a good cause Tuesday, when SCHS held the first of its two annual blood drives.

Junior Lucas Nguyen was one of the students that donated blood on Tuesday. “I wanted to donate blood because not only was this my first time, but it was also an experience.” he said.

Each year, SCHS has two blood drives. Last year’s blood drives in January and May received almost 200 donations, which totals to almost 200 pints of blood.

The blood drive was sponsored by Leadership and the Stanford Blood Center. Students signed up with a Leadership student or in the SBO and were scheduled to donate in the gym during class time. All donors will receive a Chipotle gift card and were also given food after they donated.

Not all hopeful donors were successful. Students had to be at least 110 pounds and could not have a cough or the flu.

For those who made it past the requirements and medical questionnaires, the blood drive was a chance to overcome anxieties about blood or needles.  Sophomore Joseph Caampued conquered his fears and donated blood on Tuesday. “I thought that I was gonna faint and not wake up,” said Caampued. However, he persevered. “I wanted to save lives – and my mom is also a nurse and she wanted me to do it.”

Senior Yasmine Nassar, a community service coordinator,  helped organize the blood drive and made appointments for all the donors.

“I love that it has a good cause and people that need transfusions are getting them because people are donating,” said Nassar. “And I like that people at our school are actually generous enough to participate.”

Every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood. Just one pint of blood can save up to three lives. From 2013-14, the Stanford Blood Center received a total of 42,425 whole blood donations. That’s about 42,425 pints of blood donated and a lot of lives saved.

Since the blood drive is now over, students who wish to donate blood can make an appointment at http://bloodcenter.stanford.edu/donate/ or wait for SCHS’s next blood drive.