On April 15, Amador hosted a blood drive in the small gym for both students and staff to donate. During the current national blood shortage, leadership worked with the Red Cross club to create an event that would help alleviate the crisis.

“Having the blood drive really shines light on this organization and I think it’s really amazing that we are getting a lot of people that want to volunteer through this big event,” said Mark Attia (23’), leadership student and member of the Red Cross club.
Due to the pandemic, it is less likely someone would be willing to donate blood. With over forty participants signed up and open walk-ins throughout the day, many were able to donate and help out those in need. About one pint taken per donor can help save up to three lives.

“The pandemic doesn’t really help the shortage and blood is needed every day. [The blood we receive is] used to help cancer patients, victims of car accidents, surgeries, blood transfusions, and all kinds of stuff,” said Ernyel Maranan, member of Red Cross staff.

The Red Cross takes into account the confidentiality of participants to ensure everyone donating felt comfortable throughout the process. However, in order to make sure that those who donated blood were in the correct place, Attia and Sarah Vannoni (‘23) worked to check in donors while leaving their identities anonymous as they approached the drawing tables. 

“We are calling people from classes, from where they will come into the small gym. We are gonna be checking them in, looking at their ID’s and seeing if they have the parental consent form if they are 16,” said Attia.

The mission of the American Red Cross is to “prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors.” The blood drive held at Amador worked to reinforce their goal and benefit those in our own community. 

“I think it’s a good opportunity for people to see how the Red Cross operates because it is such a huge organization and there’s a lot of opportunities for youth to get involved. I think that having the organization come here and show everyone the process of actually collecting blood will be a really good chance for students to engage with the organization and try to participate,” said Vannoni, leadership student and member of the Red Cross club.