Marlborough held its annual Red Cross blood drive on Wednesday, Feb. 22. Physical education instructor Tinka Brown coordinated the event with the help of Red Cross representatives. The School’s efforts collected over 45 units of blood, a new record in Marlborough history, from 70 parent, student, and faculty donors.

Unlike previous years, Marlborough’s blood drive in the Collins Room was filled to the maximum capacity, and some donors could not find time to get blood drawn.

Because blood donations with the Red Cross have been at an all-time low in the U.S., demand is up.  Since each unit of blood can save up to three lives, Marlborough donors helped save up 135 lives.

Historically, Marlborough has had more female donors than male, though this year saw a record number of male donors, the most in the past decade.

“Out of all the blood donors, there are only around 3% of the population that will donate blood. The majority of them are women. It has been excruciating over the years. When I first started doing the blood drive, we didn’t have any men. It was all women,” Brown says. This year, however, Marlborough attracted 12 male donors.

Looking to the future, Brown hopes to have three or four blood drives per school year.

Red Cross volunteer of six years Judith Bershak explained that it is selflessness of donors that make volunteering the most worthwhile.

“It’s beautiful to see so many people come together to do something that won’t necessarily benefit themselves but others. These people are doing something really good with no expectation of a reward,” said Bershak.