National Honor Society Students & American Red Cross Hosts December Blood Drive

By: Neyri Fragoso

On Dec 19, 2022 the National Honor Society hosted their annual Red Cross blood drive.

The American Red Cross was able to reach their goal of collecting 28 pints of blood.

Lee Pelletier and Michele Lomma (NHS Advisors) were satisfaction with the outcome of the blood drive.

“I have been impressed at the amount of support and contributions made by both staff and students during each of our blood drives” Lomma said.

The blood drive ran smoothly even though there was a miscommunication issue with the Red Cross regarding permission slips.

This issue will be corrected for the upcoming blood drive planned for February 24 in the gym at W.F. Kaynor Technical High School.

If students complete the required permission slips donors will not need to be turned away and students ages 16 and 17 will be allowed to donate blood allowing NHS and The American Red Cross to exceed their goal of collecting 28 pints once again.

“We originally signed up 56 donors. Due to some being sick that day, and others with the permission slip issue, a total of 34 donors attempted to donate. One donor could not fill the bag with a complete pint and five others were deferred [not allowed to donate] for various reasons, giving us our 28 pint total” Mr. Pelletier said.

Anyone eligible to donate is encouraged to do so at the upcoming blood drives scheduled for February 24, May 4 and July 11.

According to the American Red Cross website, blood donations to the Red Cross are “incredibly important and have a significant impact” since they help the organization “provide life-saving resources to 40 percent of hospital patients nationwide, including those with cancer, pregnancy complications, and accident and trauma victims.”

Please consider donating at one of the upcoming Blood Drives if you are eligible.