Bulldogs Blood Drive

Giving blood is a magnificent thing to be a part of. The Shasta Blood Center travels all around Northern California, seven days a week, in order to find donors. Fortunately, they decided to stop at Fall River High School to see what kind of participation would occur in the mountains. The nurses working said there was a “really great turn out for a small school, [with] lots of participation.” It was really great to hear that statement because it shows that many students faced their fears and became a part of saving lives.

             Senior Student, Simon Moreno, was not a rookie when it came to giving blood. He said, “I have given blood before, but my reason always was that I would be saving someone’s life. I would be a hero to someone.” Kayla Ronan and Kaila Betz felt the same when they donated blood. Ronan said, “I gave blood because it saves lives and it only takes about an hour out of my time.” From the time one walks in to register until the time one leaves is about an hour, and the actual drawing blood only takes about ten to twenty minutes. Betz, even though she blacked out and vomited, gave blood because, “I could, and many people need it for various reasons.”
Having the satisfaction of saving someone’s life is enough to make up for the chance of puking and/or blacking out, not to scare away those who could not or would not give blood because not many people pass out. It is only a select few, no matter the size, who have a bad reaction caused by blood pressure and blood volume dropping. Passing out for a minute will probably be worth saving someone’s life. One of the nurses even said, “You lose about one pound when donating blood,” but don’t use this as a weight loss tool because the pound is gained back after drinking water upon completion of the donating.
            Blood drawn is counted in units, and one unit is equal to two cups of blood. Normally, the Shasta Blood Center receives between thirty to one hundred ten units of blood from smaller and larger schools respectively. Last year, Fall River donated about thirty units of blood. This year, with the huge participation, our school gave forty-seven units. That doesn’t even amount to how many people tried to donate. Many were turned away because of low iron, antibiotics, sickness, piercings, or low weight. The Blood Center was very proud of the participation.
            Not all of the workers went to school just to take blood. One used to be a registered nurse and said, “I didn’t like being in the hospital. I enjoy traveling everyday.” The other workers were various kinds of nurses, and some were even phlebotomists, which is a person who goes to school just to learn how to draw blood. Most of the workers at the blood drive went to school for about four to seven years. One man said, “I never thought I would be doing this for a career because I used to work for doctors and now I travel around taking blood.” This statement might sound like he doesn’t enjoy it, but he does love taking blood and saving lives.
            All of the blood is used before it expires, which is within forty-four days. Some drawn blood is not used if the nurses find that something is wrong. Fortunately, there was no bad blood found at Fall River High. Student’s participation was great and others are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity when it comes again.
Thank you Shasta Blood Center and donors!

Haagen Dazs: A Little Cup of Heaven

Everybody loves ice cream! Many all time favorites include; chocolate chip cookie dough, mint chocolate chip, cookies and crème, and just plain ol’ chocolate or vanilla. Today you can think of almost any type of combination of fruit and sweets and there is bound to be some company that makes that kind of ice cream. But you haven’t lived until you’ve tried Haagen Dazs’ “White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle.” For only $4.19 you will seem like you are in heaven for ten minutes if you savor every bite.  The perfect amount of chocolate chunks, not too much the chocolate takes over all of the ice cream, but not too little so they are just chips. The perfect amount so you can put a chunk in you mouth and let it dissolve in a few seconds. The raspberry swirl adds to this wonderful sensation and gives you the extra little sweet burst in your mouth, but the raspberry tastes makes you think that you have had some healthy fruit. Finally, the rich and creamy white chocolate ice cream savors in your mouth and makes you want to come back for more. This is Ryan Stephenson’s all time favorite ice cream and he says, “Haagen Dazs white chocolate raspberry truffle is indescribable; its like it was crafted by the gods themselves. Its perfect all the way around just like Kate Beckinsale.” On a scale from 1 to 10 Ryan was asked how much he liked this type of ice cream and he said, “That would be a ten hundred because it’s flippin’ amazing, nothing even compares to it, its untouchable to any other kind of ice cream because, no matter how cold it is or how much you hate ice cream, white chocolate raspberry truffle always sounds incredible. It’s like there was Adam and Eve and white chocolate raspberry truffle, and that’s all I have to say about that.” The description of this ice cream sounds amazing. This type of ice cream is almost impossible to find because when stock comes in at Ray’s and a person hears about it, they are all gone that same day. The shipments of this ice cream only comes in about once every month or two. The store uses this technique so the costumers never lose that taste for “White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle,” and they know as soon as they order it, it will be gone, sometimes within minutes. Cody Wagner has personal experience with this routine. He says, “How excited am I? Well let’s just say when I take a bite of White Chocalate Raspberry Truffle it’s like looking into the face of God and having him say to me ‘Cody, you are my most wondrous creation.’ Ya, it’s kinda like that.” This ice cream has a huge effect on many people, but the result is happiness. Be careful because the effect of eating one bite of this ice cream causes serious addiction. That is another reason why the stores hold off on supplies with this ice cream. If too much were offered, as soon as it was gone, insanity would come about and people would have withdrawals from this ice cream. Many say it’s worth it; the feeling from this ice cream brings happiness to your life with every bite. So, just beware, if you ever go out and try this white chocolate raspberry truffle, you might find that any other favorite ice cream you’ve had in the past, isn’t as appetizing. Haagen Dazs White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle…A little taste of heaven.
By: Lisa Senko