It is the season of all things scary, but this Halloween the school will be filled with blood for a different reason.

On Friday, Oct 28th the National Honor Society (NHS) is pairing with the Sioux Falls Community Blood Bank to host a blood drive at LHS. The drive is held during the school day from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is one of the biggest drives in Sioux Falls. Students must miss a small portion of class to participate, but they are allowed to pick which slot they want to donate during and all students receive a pass back to class after they finish.

“If students don’t want to miss class, they can always donate at one of the hospitals, but we give passes from class for this drive since it is both convenient for students and so important for the community,” said Sue Bull, head of LHS’s NHS chapter.

The biggest problem the school faces with hosting the blood drive are students not getting enough nutrition before donating. It is recommended that students eat well in the days leading up to donation, eat a good breakfast the day of their donation, and get nutrition after donating as well. The drive has always provided a small snack after they donate, but the biggest problem is getting the students to eat a healthy meal before coming to school. Every year several students feel faint because they didn’t eat breakfast. Last year, the Blood Bank started paying for students to have a breakfast off the cart in the cafeteria, and the result was a dramatic improvement. But this year LHS will be pioneering a new program to take it one step further.

“We will be offering a hot, cooked breakfast that morning, courtesy of Avera and Sanford, to all students donating in the blood drive,” said Bull. “Our NHS vice president, Sofia Haan, is organizing the effort.”

LHS is known for pioneering the breakfast cart program that was then adapted by WHS and RHS, so the hope is that if the breakfast goes well, blood drives at other schools may adapt the hot breakfast idea as well. Students often skip breakfast for convenience or time, so NHS hopes that providing participating students with a breakfast at school that morning will decrease any side effects students may feel, as well as encourage more students to donate. The goal is to get as many donations as possible since each donation will directly help save up to three lives in our own community.

“All the blood donated goes to our two local hospitals, Avera and Sanford, and helps people in our own community, right here in Sioux Falls and the surrounding area,” said Bull. “Some drives sell the blood and ship it out, but we keep it all local.”

Students that want to donate must be at least 16 years old, weigh 110 lbs and be symptom-free of any illness for at least 24 hours before being allowed to donate. Most students tend to be anxious their first time donating, but those that are able to do it once, often return for the next drive and become life-long donors. Bull recommends donating with friends to ease nerves as well as getting enough to eat and, most of all, not psyching yourself out over it.

“I’ve donated, well, 35 years,” said Bull, “and it’s not as big of a deal as students think. Just relax and get enough to eat.”

LHS’s blood drive last Spring raised enough blood donations to save about 96 lives. NHS hopes to continue to match or increase donations in this Fall’s drive and each drive to come.