Last week, a blood drive took place at Townsend Harris to help combat the emergency blood shortage throughout the nation. Harrisites aged 16 or older were allowed to donate blood with parental consent. They could either schedule an appointment beforehand or walk into the THHS gymnasium, where professionals drew blood from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm. Students were required to complete a quick questionnaire on their medical history and a physical exam to ensure they were feeling well before the donation.
Senior Christina Watkins shared her motivations for volunteering, “For one, as a child, I did receive blood before so for me it’s a way to give back,” said Christina. On the process itself, Christina said, “It was really nice and chill, after the paperwork, donating blood is pretty quick.”
Despite two weeks of advertising the event, Senior Advisor Blayne Gelbman shared that only 11 students volunteered to donate blood, a sizable decrease from the expected 30 based on previous years. Out of these 11, three were turned away for not meeting the appropriate standards for donating. As a result, students were sent a post-blood drive Google Form in their respective grade’s Google Classrooms to encourage them to reflect on their reasons for not donating and offer specific incentives that might encourage a greater turnout in the future.
While freshmen were not old enough to donate blood, many expressed a profound interest in doing so once they reached the age requirement. Freshman Mohashin Tasfiya said, “I can’t wait until I am able to donate blood [to help] too.”
Freshman Danielle Mitchell said, “I’ve never donated blood before, but I think it’s great that people would donate their own blood just so that others can have a fighting chance at life again.”
This was the eleventh biannual blood drive event at THHS, so it clearly seems to be continuing the tradition. The second drive is set to be held sometime in the next calendar year, most likely during the winter.
