Sacred Heart Greenwich’s Red Cross Club (RCC) is hosting its annual blood drive February 28 from 11:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  American Red Cross staff members and Sacred Heart volunteers will be in the DuBois Gymnasium in the Athletic Center to take the blood of eligible students, faculty, staff and other members of the Sacred Heart community.

Sacred Heart alumna Ms. Jennie Chieco ’13 founded the RCC when she entered the Upper School to continue her work from her eighth-grade “Making History” project.  The project enables students to make a difference with a social justice issue of their choice through research and volunteer work.

Ms. Chieco’s inspiration was her older sister Ms. Michelle Chieco ’06, who suffers from thalassemia, a blood disorder characterized by less hemoglobin, an oxygen-carrying protein, and fewer red blood cells than normal.  The treatment consists of biweekly blood transfusions, according to cdc.gov. 

Club head junior Madison Mezzatesta and the club’s 11 other members continue Ms. Chieco’s passion through their planning of this year’s blood drive.  The members of the RCC include freshmen Sia Goyal, Ana López del Punta, and Sofia Llovera, sophomores Regina Finn, Juliette Ingram, Heidi McGannon, and Claire Moore, juniors Lianna Amoruso and Mia López del Punta, and seniors Caroline Baranello and Bridget Hamlet.  Miss Karen Panarella, Upper School Dean of Students and Yearbook Moderator, moderates the club.

“My committee and I are promoting the blood drive in a variety of ways.  We have created posters that we will display around campus this week,” Madison said.  “We are also including details of the event in the weekly email that is sent to the parents and school community, as well as in other online sources and we are promoting the event by word of mouth.”

For the blood drive, potential donors will register online and answer questions about their health history to ensure that they qualify to give blood.  Requirements include donors to be at least 17 years old, have no fever-like symptoms, cannot be using antibiotics, among other rules, according to redcrossblood.org.   Upon arriving they will be asked to show a donor card, driver’s license, or two other forms of identification.  The donors approved will have their temperature, hemoglobin, blood pressure, and pulse checked.

On average, patients in the United States need blood every two seconds.  Donations are essential for cancer treatment, surgeries, chronic illnesses, and traumatic injuries, according to redcrossblood.org.  

This will be Bridget’s second year donating blood.  She encourages those eligible to donate because the small act makes a huge impact on others.

“I’m donating blood because I know that there are blood shortages throughout the United States,” Bridget said.  “It feels good to donate and know that I could potentially be saving a life.  Everyone who is eligible to donate blood should because the blood donated could save someone’s life.”

Featured Image by Christine Guido ’20