The teacher walkouts that have shut down schools since Thursday, April 26th have had an unexpected result on the state’s blood blanks. According to United Blood Services, some of the schools that are shut down had scheduled blood drives that didn’t end up happening. They had anticipated collecting 1,000 blood donations at the cancelled drives.

The Director of Donor Recruitment for United Blood Services Southwest Division, Sid Lewis, Sr. stated that high school students are responsible for the blood used in one of every six blood transfusions. Teens are by far the most generous contributors of blood in Arizona.

If you are interested in donating blood but can’t make it to a blood drive, you can make an appointment to donate blood instead. To do so, click here.