Red Cross Club's Spring Blood Drive Tops Fall's Record Turnout

The Red Cross Club aimed to get a similarly good turnout for its spring blood drive at the high school on Thursday as it had at the fall drive. The spring blood drive surpassed the fall drive with 108 people donating blood on Thursday, according to a school spokeswoman.

During the fall drive, 136 people tried to donate blood and 94 were approved to do so, said Nasira Rafiq, an advisor to the Red Cross Club. She added that this was the highest number of donations the drive had received in about 10 years. For the spring drive, there were 75 people who made appointments to donate blood and 108 who donated.

It was senior Mathew Varughese's first time donating blood on Thursday. He was "not that nervous" before donating blood.

"I always wanted to donate blood," Varughese said, adding, "it's one of the easiest ways to give back."

To other people who might be nervous about donating blood for the first time, Varughese said, "Go and try it and if you don't like it, don't do it again."

Senior Manvinder Ghotra has donated blood six times between drives at his high school and elsewhere. He donates because he "wants to help others" and because it "saves lives."

Seniors Sharon Paul and Jason Arikupurathu have also donated blood a few times and feel compelled to do so because they have O positive blood, which could be used by anyone.

Members of the Red Cross Club started working on the blood drive during their spring break. They went into the English classes of juniors and seniors to talk to the students about the need for blood. Ishita Shah, a junior and co-president of the Red Cross Club was one of the students who explained some of the facts of who needs this blood to the students. She also created a Facebook event for the drive and there were 35 people from that event who said they were attending.