By ANNA GILGOFF

Special to The Press

As turmoil was unfolding in the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, Northwestern Lehigh’s Key Club was sponsoring a blood drive in the parking lot of the New Tripoli Fire Company, and the community altruistically responded.

After parking the car, high school students Abigail Snyder and Rachel Anderson headed for one of the three big white buses stamped with the Miller-Keystone Blood Center logo and the motto: “A pint today saves a life tomorrow.”

The message was not lost on the two who each have donated blood multiple times before, and were intent on doing it again.

“I’m a universal donor,” Snyder said. “I like to give blood because anybody can use it.”

Anderson provided her reason for donating.

“I just think it’s a really good thing to do,” Anderson added. “People always need blood.”

Sixteen-year-olds may donate blood with parental consent, according to Natiah Arrick, who works for Miller-Keystone.

“The need for blood is great right now because of COVID,” she said. “Plus, a lot of businesses are closed.”

This means donations have been hindered, Arrick explained.

This situation made Key Club members all the more determined to sponsor a blood drive even though several accommodations had to be made in consideration of COVID-19.

“We needed to first determine how to best administer and adjust to new protocols, to adhere to social distancing guidelines,” explained Key Club Adviser Bob Biese. “Then we needed to try and find a new location outside the school since the current social distancing policy does not permit any additional people in the school for any reason.

“The employees of Miller-Keystone would not be able to access the building to perform the needed duties of the blood drive.”

But the restrictions did not deter the Key Club’s resolve to sponsor the first blood drive of the year.

“With their additional support and experience in these trying times, Miller-Keystone assisted in reaching out to known venues that could possible help with all social distancing guidelines as established not only by our school district, but by the administration as well,” Biese said.

Typically, blood donations decrease in the winter because of factors related to the holidays, seasonal illness, and bad weather, but the pandemic has exasperated the situation, leading the Miller-Keystone Blood Center to issue an urgent appeal for blood donors.

Junior James Gengaro answered the call, showing up to donate blood.

“I wanted to help out the community during the coronavirus pandemic,” he said. “They’re letting people into the hospitals now, and there’s a shortage of blood.”

Biese said the blood drive was so successful, some donors could not be scheduled.

“Given the current set of parameters for any and all interactions between everyone, this blood drive was a huge success,” Biese said. “We actually had more donors than we could schedule.”

Unaware he needed to sign up before the blood drive, Northwestern Lehigh resident Russell Billig was unable to donate when he saw the blood mobiles, but he is determined to return in about eight weeks when the Key Club schedules the next drive.

“If I’m healthy enough, I want to give blood, if they allow me,” Billig said, “Isn’t it a good thing?”

The next drive is already on the calendar.

“We are planning for a way to adjust and safely handle even more donors for the next blood drive,” Biese said. “Bruce Dalrymple, New Tripoli fire chief; Barbara Gates, our Miller Keystone account representative; and I are discussing and tentatively planning on hosting another blood drive with added space and ability to accommodate additional donors on March 3,” Biese said.

The Key Club adviser and math teacher said 450 units of blood are needed every day in the 12 counties served by Miller-Keystone Blood Center, which is the only blood supplier to 29 hospitals in this region.