In 1980, a group of St. Paul Academy and Summit School students decided to host a Red Cross Blood Drive. 37 years later, the tradition still stands.

The blood drive is now organized by the Upper School Council, but in its early years, the Students Activities Committee was the host. Upper School math teacher and USC adviser Jim McVeety began at SPA the year after the first blood drive.

“For the first decade and a half that I was here SAC [organized the blood drive],” McVeety said.

“At some point it became a joint SAC and USC event and then it became a USC only event.”

Although the goal of donating as much blood as possible remains, a lot has changed over the 37 years the event has taken place. One of the most obvious changes is the increase in technology.

“The computer system is the one thing that is different,” McVeety said.

Another major change is the rules that the Red Cross has surrounding who can donate. There are a series of restrictions, for example all donors must have the minimum hemoglobin value required for blood donation which is 12.5g/dL. Although this restriction has stayed generally consistent over time, some have changed.

“The number of restrictions that there are – the number of things the red cross needs to screen for has increased. Tattoos didn’t used to be as prevalent, piercings not as prevalent, so those are some of the factors that reduce the number of people,” McVeety said.

Despite the history of blood drives at SPA, a lot of planning is needed to host a successful event.

“Because we already have established the tradition of having blood drives, we are in contact with a representative from the Red Cross and we schedule in advance the date and we meet with the Red Cross representative and members of USC and I and lay out a game plan just in terms of whole will provide what for example the Red Cross provides the canteen,” McVeety said.

“We decide what the entrance is that they use, what the time will be, what the goal is in terms of the number of possible donations and the representative makes sure we know of any new restrictions and new opportunities that there are available in terms of incentives for the school.”

Some may wonder how the longstanding tradition of Red Cross blood drives has lasted. McVeety attributes the continual success to the willingness and friendliness of the SPA community.

“We have always had plenty of willing donors on the part of the staff and faculty and the students, people here recognize the importance of donating blood. The Red Cross also gives us high marks in terms of we are their favorite school in terms of how our students are, how our students interact with the people from the blood drive,” McVeety said.

But the great community dynamic at SPA may not be only reason the Red Cross gives the school high remarks.  McVeety mentions one last factor that attracts the Red Cross to SPA year after year.

“[Aside from that], we have good lunches.”