On Wednesday, April 8th, Holyoke high students were given an interesting and beneficial opportunity: the chance to donate blood with the American Red Cross. The event took place throughout the school day, as students periodically left their classes to attend their appointments taking place in the small gym. As the progressed, not only were expectations met, but easily surpassed, as the turn out grew well over what was expected.

“I found it was a very interesting experience”, stated Cruz Rosario, a senior here at Holyoke High who participated, “It was a little tolling on me after I donated, but knowing that I helped out a few people makes me feel pretty good.”

“Our goal was to collect 40 pints of blood. They expected about 17 people to be screened out for various reasons such as low iron, high blood pressure, etc. We were able to collect 52 pints of blood and only screened out 10 people (so 62 of our students and staff attempted to donate). Potentially, those 52 pints can help 156 people as each pint collected can help 3 people,” said Mrs. Horton, the National Honor Society staff advisor. “We did such a great job, that they called for additional staff people from a blood drive at a nearby high school that hardly had any students or staff in attendance.”

The National Honor Society at HHS assisted the Red Cross staff during the duration of the Drive, such as with checking students in, setting up and dismantling the canteen table where donors could find snacks afterwards, and guiding the staff through various locations throughout the school. Because the students did an exceptional job, the Red Cross staff were very complimentary of the students.