National Honors society hosted annual blood drive

Poster for the blood drive. (Penelope Neireiter)

National Honors Society (NHS) hosted their annual blood drive on November 22, and they plan to host a second one this spring.
“We usually plan the blood drive that happens at Ballard,” said senior Carmella Terrones, the president of NHS.
The blood drive has happened yearly for as long as Terrones has been at the school, and she’s not quite sure how it was started, or why Bloodworks Northwest was the company they chose to use.
“I think it’s worked really well in the past, and that’s why they’re willing to keep doing it,” said Alyson Chew, junior and NHS officer. Chew also helped plan the blood drive.
Getting people to sign up for the blood drive is one of the harder parts of planning the event.
“We want to have anyone who wants to donate to be able to do it,” Terrones said.
However, getting people to sign up can be difficult, but it is a great opportunity for other NHS members to get service hours.
“You have to walk around at lunch and ask people the uncomfortable question of ‘do you want to donate blood?’” Chew said.
Honors society members can also get service hours by creating kits for the blood doners to use before they donate .
“We had to make sure doners have sodium and iron in their blood,” Chew said.
There are some specific rules that Bloodworks Northwest has for the doners, one of which is that doners must be 16 years old to participate. However, there are other NHS sponsored volunteer opportunities this year.
“This year we’re working with the Seattle marathon,” Terrones said. “We’re going to have a water station booth. Also, a local theater has a bunch of usher positions for kids to fill out.”
Additionally, the blood drive in the spring could provide volunteer opportunities for those who are on the edge of turning 16, and who will have had their sixteenth birthday before the next blood drive.