Volunteers from the American Red Cross came to West for the Red Cross Club’s winter blood drive Dec. 12. The drive collected 43 units, surpassing their unit goal.
According to the Red Cross, only about 3% of age-eligible people donate every year. High school students are a lesser-known demographic; many are too young, don’t have schedules that align with local blood drives or simply don’t know that they can donate blood.
Thirty-three students from West donated, and 54% of donors were donating for the first time.
Club Co-President Anna Greenlee ’26 said, “A lot of students just don’t know about blood donation, and they don’t really know that this is a possibility for them. And I think exposing them to that possibility is really gratifying.”
Donor Ben Rutkowski ’28 donated for the first time, but not the last. “The reason I want to donate is because donating helps save lives, and it’s something easy I can do. It doesn’t take much, it just requires a little bit of time, and gets me out of class,” Rutkowski said.
Leading the club with Greenlee, Co-President Finnley Bonfig ’26 helped organize the blood drive.
“I feel like it’s fun when people come in, and they’re kind of scared, and then we talk them through it. They come out, and they’re like, ‘Oh, it wasn’t that bad. I want to do it again,'” Bonfig said.
The club brought back its winter blood drive after its initial success last year, and plans to continue holding drives biannually. The next drive is March 27, and donors can sign up on redcrossblood.org with sponsor code “WestHigh” or email [email protected].
