A memorial blood drive held at Frontline Church on Tuesday January 5, 2021 honored the passing of teacher Ted Burba.
Burba, who was the teacher adviser to the SADD club, was known for administering all of the blood drives every year. There didn’t feel like a better way to honor his memory than to produce a blood drive dedicated to him.
Senior Andrew Taylor was one of many students and staff who felt the need to attend the memorial blood drive.
“I never knew him as a teacher, but I felt I needed to pay some sort of respect to Mr. Burba,” Taylor said. “I knew how many lives he impacted over his many years of teaching, and if I didn’t do something to commemorate his impact on the community and his influence I would have regretted not doing anything about that.”
While many were getting their blood drawn, others were paying their respects on paper.
“There was this one table that had a poster on it that had pictures of Mr. Burba on it,” Taylor said. “You could write letters or notes on the poster board and things they were thankful for about him.”
The blood drive was held from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and by 12 p.m., according to Taylor, there were already several messages to Burba on the poster.
“There could have been so many more, the board was probably filled by the time 7 p.m. rolled around,” Taylor said.
According to statistics collected after the drive, the projected goal committed to hospitals was 96 donors.
117 people registered. 321 lives were saved.
Furthermore, there were 24 first time donors. The projected goal for first time donors was 20.
