On September 30, Townsend Harris partnered with the New York Blood Center (NYBC) to host its first Blood Drive of the school year. 

Students decided to participate in the Blood Drive for various reasons. Many simply wanted to support the effort and aid the community, while others were inspired by important people in their lives. 

Junior Annie Wang said, “What motivated me was thinking that I was helping someone out there receive blood that might save their life. It felt good knowing that it was a really good cause.”

Additionally, junior Abbiegale Daljeet said, “I’ve always seen my mom donating blood growing up and I always thought it was something cool and empowering to be able to do…I feel like that was a big part [of] why I chose to donate.”

Members of the school community who met the minimum age requirement and other eligibility mandates were encouraged to each donate a small amount of blood to potentially save three lives. Participants under 18 years old were required to complete a permission slip in order to donate, and the event was held in the school auditorium from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

THHS has been hosting NYBC blood drive events biannually for over 10 years. Two hours of community service were also awarded to all of the participants and they were granted an excused absence from some of their classes for the day.