The Pinewood Upper Campus community donated approximately 51 lifesaving units of blood from 14 donors Sept. 13 at a blood drive hosted by the Health Science Club. The donations were collected by local nonprofit Vitalant and will be distributed to El Camino, Sequoia and Stanford Hospitals to combat a national blood shortage. Because climate disasters have decreased donor turnout and caused blood drive cancellations, blood supplies have fallen to critically low levels.
Health Science Club advisor Kim Hudson organized the event with co-presidents senior Jakob Kleiman and junior Prisha Mohapatra.
“In Health Science Club, we’re obviously focused a lot on the human body [but also] how we can improve access to healthcare,” Kleiman said. “All you’re doing is making sure that if your friend, your mom, or your grandma ends up in the hospital, they don’t die and they get the blood they need.”
This year’s blood drive revives the tradition of annual school-wide drives; the last was in 2018. To kick off their year, the Health Science Club arranged the drive in two weeks. Despite the quick turnaround from the planning stage, Hudson said that people signed up quickly and filled all the available time slots.
“Some people that maybe aren’t totally comfortable [donating blood] really put themselves out there and gave it a try,” Hudson said.
Although she had never given blood before, senior Betti Hamori said her nerves were calmed knowing the positive impact of her donation.
“I think it’s important to give if you have something to give, especially during an emergency when [the blood] could actually save someone’s life,” Hamori said.
