Blood drive to save lives
Convent of the Sacred Heart’s Red Cross Club (RCC) is hosting its seventh annual blood drive February 26 from 11:30 am to 5 pm. American Red Cross staff members and volunteers will be in the Dubois gymnaisium to take the blood of faculty, staff, and eligible students.
Senior club heads Katherine Nail, Alexandra Dimitri, and Catherine Finnegan are working to plan and promote the event by arranging conference calls with the American Red Cross Connecticut representative Ms. Michelle Peters, planning the location of the drive, and sending emails and making announcements to remind students, faculty, and parents about the event.
Every year, millions of Americans are in need of blood transfusions, and the need for donors of all blood types is constant. With each donation comes one pint of blood, which can save up to three lives, according to redcrossblood.org.
Upper School Academic Dean Mrs. Jennifer Bensen, who has donated blood at Sacred Heart since the blood drive’s genesis in 2009, believes that giving blood is an effortless method of helping those in need.
“I think what holds people back is the fear of a needle, but it is such a simple process and virtually painless. Just getting through that millisecond of pain can save lives,” Mrs. Bensen said.
Cheyann Greirson ’16
On the day of the drive, donors must undergo a screening process before donating blood. It is also important that donors eat iron-rich food and stay hydrated to ensure that the blood moves fluidly.
“You check in and there’s a lengthy document you read to give you background information on donating. Then you sit down and have a face-to-face interview with a staff member, complete an online questionnaire regarding where you have travelled and there are questions about tattoos, piercings you may have gotten that could affect donating,” Mrs. Bensen said. “There is also a finger prick test to check iron levels.”
Founder of the Sacred Heart blood drive alumna Ms. Jennie Chieco ’13 started the event as a culmination of her eighth grade “Making Change” project. Her project was a tribute to her sister, Sacred Heart alumna Michelle Chieco ’06, who suffers from thalassemia, a disease that reduces the amount of oxygen-carrying proteins in the blood. Since then, with the help of the entire Sacred Heart community, the project has and will continue to save thousands of lives.
“I am so incredibly grateful that the blood drives have continued at CSH past my graduation. Donating blood is one huge way to make an impact in, and maybe even save, someone else’s life. By being involved with (through donating or volunteering) the blood drives at a young age, students are more likely to continue these life-saving behaviors over the course of their lives,” Jennie said.
Jennie is not the only member of the community that has been moved by her sister’s story. Upper School History Teacher and Chair of the History Department, Mr. Vincent Badagliacca credits his participation in the drive to
“Jennie is really the person who inspired me to give blood. She told me about her sister’s conditionand the difficulties she had getting regular transfusions. It made me thankful to give back and to assist people like Jennie’s sister and others,” Mr. Badagliacca said. “Donating gives you a really great feeling that you’re helping to give life to others in this fashion, especially since there is a really critical shortage in blood supplies. If I give consistently, I will help people and help eliminate the uncertainty that exists.”
To participate or volunteer in the blood drive please email Alexandra Dimitri at [email protected] or sign up in front of Ms. Panarella’s office outside of the Core Center. Donors must be 17 years of age or older and weigh at least 110.