Did you know that one in three of us will need a blood transfusion in our lifetimes? Just one whole blood donation can save three lives. Today, dozens of our Pinellas County Job Corps students stepped up to donate blood to the OneBlood organization, many of them giving for a second time because they feel so strongly about the importance of donating. 24-year-old Justin Smith put it simply. “I love it. I feel like I’m saving a life.”

“Out of 46, 36 were able to give,” said organizer Renitta Walton. “With a hurricane and holiday, we couldn’t promote this drive as much as we normally would. It was a great turnout.” OneBlood’s goal was to bring in enough blood to save 90 lives and this blood drive beat their goal.