Students at Copper Hills High School hope to break blood donation record

By Karah Brackin

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    WEST JORDAN, Utah (KSL) — Dozens of students at Copper Hills High School took turns donating blood Wednesday with a big goal in mind.

At the beginning of the school year, Associated Regional and University Pathologists (ARUP), a Salt Lake City, Utah-based nonprofit laboratory at University of Utah’s Department of Pathology, challenged the Jordan School District to donate blood. Copper Hills High hopped on that challenge.

They hoped to meet their goal of donating more than 100 units of blood by Wednesday afternoon, which would set a state record for most blood ever collected by a high school in an academic year for ARUP.

“We have a really big goal,” said Stockton Richins, a junior representative of HOSA.

“If they get 112 units today, Copper Hills will have collected 500 units this school year, and that is the single largest single sponsor that we hold blood drives with,” said Rob Fox, with ARUP’s community relations.

Fox said their job with ARUP is to collect blood for the Huntsman Cancer Institute and university hospital system.

At a blood drive like the one held Wednesday, students sitting in the chairs give one unit of whole blood.

If they hit their goal, some quick math will show you their donation would make a big impact.

“About 1,100 patients they can help over one year,” he said.

The big picture helps others who need blood now and later.

“Our hope is that they start young with blood donation and continue it through their life,” Fox said.

Richins wants to be part of that.

“I do not plan on stopping. I plan on even donating over the summer.”

Richins, who is looking to go into the health care field, said he is proud of his classmates.

“We’re saving lives, but another thing is, I think it’s more about being willing to.”

ARUP said high school students are some of the biggest blood donors in the state. When the pandemic hit, that took a toll on the amount of donated blood.

While they said they are still down 20% recovering from the pandemic, these kinds of drives help them get back on track.

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