Prior to Spring Break, students, teachers, and community members gathered by the Minarets gym to donate blood for those in need in the Central Valley. Organized by the National Honor Society, students donated their time and effort to put on this drive prior to the long-awaited break. Volunteers from NHS spent the morning sending out reminders and delivering breakfast burritos provided by the Sanchez family.
The event itself ran from 1pm to 5pm and the NHS members help to check students in, answer questions, and provide moral support to those donating. All this hard work paid off: over 48 pints of blood were collected, which exceeded the goal for 40 pints. The Central California Blood Center was very pleased with the turn out and said that there was a steady flow of students throughout the four hours.
Senior Crystal Hernandez, president of the National Honor Society, was the first person to donate and was proud to kick off the event. She described that "this was my second time donating blood and I actually liked donating in the Bloodmobile; the seats are much more comfortable! I'm very proud that the National Honor Society was able to put this event on for the school!"
The Minarets National Honor Society is already working on plans for the next blood drive. Adviser Kaitlin Morgan explained "NHS is planning to make this a semesterly event: one in the fall and one in the spring. We don't have an official date for the next blood drive, but we will let you know when we do!"
Thank you again to everyone who donated. One blood donation can save up to three lives, which means Minarets potentially saved over 140 lives!