10 Reasons to Give Blood

As an activist, you may have done a lot of things that could have been detrimental to your health. You may have cleaned a highway, during which you could have been hit by a car—or you may have cleaned a river, during which you could have drowned. You may have attended a potentially dangerous protest, or even been arrested for civil disobedience and thrown in jail with some people who are probably a lot less nicer than you are—and did not hesitate to let you know. But have you taken the ultimate act in saving a life—have you given blood?

I know, it’s scary, it’s faint-inducing sometimes, and it’s even a little creepy (with or without the Twilight hysteria going on). But it really is one of the biggest ways you can make a difference in someone’s life. And besides, what if you had gotten hurt during one of your heartfelt but hair-brained activist stunts? You may have needed blood!

Here are 10 good reasons to give blood:

10. First-time blood-givers give blood again at about a 30% rate. That’s not very promising! We need to make up for the difference and share our own juicy hemoglobin.

9. You get free juice and cookies. It’s like preschool again, only with needles. This may not be a difference for some of you.

8. All the cool kids are doing it. Or they should be.

7. It only takes about an hour. That’s less time than you spend watching Whale Wars marathons or playing Rock Band.

6. Someone in America needs blood every two seconds. So you know your bodily fluids are needed and used.

5. You’ll lose weight. Yep, you’ll weigh a full pint less than when you walked in the door. Take that, Kirstie Alley. (But only if you don’t eat the cookies—and you probably should eat the cookies.)

4. You can give blood a whopping six times a year. I bet you don’t even give to Goodwill that often!

3. Your “I Gave Blood” sticker—or even just your Looney Tunes bandaid—is a badge of honor even more sacred than the “I voted” one. It’s true—you won’t have to do any heavy lifting and people will gawk and admire you and build statues in your honor. Or say, “I wish I could give blood but…” and give some lame excuse. Either way, you’ll rock.

2. There is a 97% chance that you know someone who needs or will need blood. So you can tell your friends “Don’t say I never gave you anything” because your blood just might end up in their veins.

1. Your donation will save a life—or more. That’s right—a single donation can help save three lives.