When junior Iftha Sharif was given an assignment to aid the community during her DECA class, her group chose to host a blood drive to help those in need. 

“We chose this project because we found it rewarding and beneficial towards other people,” Sharif said. “I just like the thought of it saving people’s lives and helping people in need. I feel like that’s like a great reward.”

The blood drive was held on Jan. 11 in collaboration with the Red Cross. Sophomore group member Ruweyda Warsame said it took a while to organize the project and get the word out. 

“It took us a couple months to organize it and get people to actually donate blood,” Warsame said. “We had to advertise by making posters and posting online on our social media.”

Junior Fiona Long said she heard about the event through the National Honors Society (NHS), but had wanted to donate already.

“I’m in NHS and they sent a link about it but I have been wanting to donate blood for a while,” Long said. “It didn’t take much time. It was really easy and you can help a lot of people.”

Junior Luca Alvarez said giving blood is more important now than ever to help those in need. 

“It’s very crucial because as the Red Cross has been saying, they’re in the midst of blood shortage so they need a lot of blood for people that will be getting surgeries,” Alvarez said. “In a shortage like this without blood, people can die.” 

According to Long, the blood drive was an important event given the current pandemic.

“With our COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of people haven’t been donating just because going into medical facilities makes people nervous,” Long said. “Right now we’re in a national blood shortage and according to the people working, a pint of blood can save three lives.”