The annual blood drive was held by The Red Cross Club and which took place in the Malden High School gym on Thursday, April 5th, 2018.
The president of the club, Max Weng, was at the forefront of organizing the student volunteers and making sure that they had as many people sign up to donate blood as possible.
They also contacted a member from the American Red Cross, James Galen, who came in to talk to them beforehand.
Math teacher and club advisor, Chris Giordano, has been in charge of this event for about five years, but the blood drive has been around even before he became apart of the club, when it was advised by Kristen Kirby in the past. Giordano became advisor when his homeroom student, who was the president of the club awhile back, asked him to step in when Kirby was no advisoring the club.
Giordano says he thinks this event is important because it’s for a great cause where all the blood will be transferred to local hospitals in the area and helping out those who are in need.
Sophomore, Brenda Freitas, attended the blood drive and donated her blood for the first time since was eligible to donate. Freitas found out about the event a day before it took place, from Max Weng who suggested she donated and she thought to herself “Why not?”.
She thinks this drive was important because “there’s many people out there that are in need of blood transplants or just blood in general and so [she] feels that it’s important for people to participate in [these events] and help those in need.”
Freitas also shared that “once you enter, [they] give out snacks like cheez-its, juices, and oreos before and after your blood is drawn.¨ Before getting their blood drawn,participants have to go through a series of questions,first online and then in person questions that include if the participant have travelled out of the country recently. Then during the whole process, it’s actually easy because you just lay down and look up at the ceiling or sit down and [they] poke the needle in you and it only hurts for a split second but then after it feels good.”
Though Freitas got a small allergic reaction after they drew her blood and had no idea she was allergic to Iodine, she still thinks it was a good experience. She also said that she will “definitely be doing it again” and mentions she wanted to do it freshmen year, but due to her age, she wasn’t old enough so now she’s happy that she got the opportunity to do it.
Senior, Manuel Quesada Nylen, donated twice this year. Nylen said it was “an alien experience for [him] at first but that [his] friend Max Weng told [him] to do it” and so he also thought to himself “Why not? [he] only had to walk down four flights of stairs.”
After donating for the first time, he said that “[his] perspective on the situation changed. It was more than a chance to get out of class; but it was a chance for [him] to do a small task that involved very little work on [his] end, that could bring a whole lot of good for someone who needs it. [He] knows the American Red Cross helps a lot of people so [he] knows it’s going towards a good cause.”
Giordano says that if anyone was interested in participating in the blood drive this year,but wasn’t able to, there will be two more blood drives next year. Be sure to look out for the announcements on upcoming drives soon.
