<p>NoFX, just go to <a href="http://www.givelife.org%5B/url%5D">www.givelife.org</a>, fill out your information, and the site will give you a list of places you can go donate.</p>
<p>It's not a hospital. Most hospitals around here don't have donor centers (except the military ones). I just picked the place off the list and chose my time.</p>
<p>Platelet donation is where you only donate a small portion of your blood, the platelets, that deal with blood clotting. You basically donate whole blood, and then the doctors separate the platelets and then you get the rest of your blood back. You can do that up to 24 times a year. It's needed more - donated platelets only last 5 days.</p>
<p>OT - would writing about my experience donating blood be a good essay for the common app? It just hit me last night that it's a possibility.</p>