First Tuesday in November, most Americans are thinking of candidates and where they need to go to vote, at Cotter people are thinking of ….blood?

This election day, Tuesday, November 4,  a Red Cross blood drive was held from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. in Cotter’s Gostomski Family Gymnasium.

The drive was staffed by student council members and their adviser, Ms. O’Keefe.
The Red Cross collected 51 units of blood from students, parents, teachers, and other members of the Cotter community. Three people donated double red blood cells, the most used component of blood. The process uses an apheresis machine to gather two units of red blood cells and return most of the removed platelets and plasma. The Cotter community, with the help of the Red Cross, contributed to saving many lives, up to three for each unit of blood collected.

The total collected was 18 units fewer than the previous Cotter blood drive last February.
There were a few bumps in the road, but overall, the blood drive was a success. A few donors became a bit dizzy, but there were no serious problems with donors. Some of the computers stopped functioning during the day, so appointments were pushed back significantly.

Many students allowed adults to go before them in order to allow them to get back to work. Most donors spent more time in the gym than planned, but were still glad that they decided to donate.

There was some frustration stemming from the amount of class time some students missed, which may be an issue Cotter will have to resolve before holding another drive.

Despite these inconveniences, when viewed from the recipient’s point of view, the sacrifices made seem well worth the resulting benefits.