The LifeStream blood drive, traditionally hosted by the Spanish Club and Sra. Jane Harmon, collaborated with the Red Cross Club for one of the most prominent multi-club events of the year. October 20th marked the last time a blood drive took place at our school, hosted solely by the Spanish Club and had taken place off-campus. 

With additional planning, this time was hosted inside the MPR where more beds were used and more space was allowed for work stations. For the Red Cross Club, they had a few weeks in advance to prepare sign-ups, volunteers and everything in between to get them the help that they needed. 

Spanish Club, on the other hand, had their hands tied as their presidents were out sick for the majority of the planning phase, leaving their members in the dark and their involvement limited. Upon their return, the gears began to turn and the club was doing what it had done before: planning for a blood drive. 

From Monday the 24th – the day club presidents Martin and Miguel Lizardi would return – until Wednesday the 26th, everything the Spanish club missed was made up in a hurry. 

“For Señora Harmon, it was a really hectic week. And I feel like she was just under a lot of pressure,” said sophomore and seasoned Spanish Club member Nina Hernandez. “And to be honest, she did a good job putting it all together because, on such short notice, she still got everyone notified and still helped out getting the blood drive for the info and the signups.” 

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Donors are the most crucial part of a blood drive, and the Red Cross Club did not disappoint. “Since many members joined the Red Cross Club to volunteer at the blood drives, many of the members were ready to work and help out with anything throughout the drive,” said Red Cross Club president and senior Nirali Desai. “We were all curious how the nurses worked and the whole process, so the experience was very interesting and insightful.” 

Both sides of the collaboration agreed that they worked well together, with the incidental lack of communication leaving only small things to be improved upon. “It went pretty well,” said Spanish club co-president and sophomore Martin Lizardi. “I think there is room for improvement when it comes to communication with the Red Cross Club, but it went pretty well.” 

Fortunately, lessons were learned. “For the next blood drive in April, communication between clubs will be a lot easier since we are all more familiar with each other,” said Desai. She hopes that with this, they will collectively have more publicity within the next few months. 

With the collaboration of the two clubs, even the shortage of preparation allowed for them to meet and exceed donation expectations. “We were able to exceed our projections,” said Lizardi, “And with experience from the last blood drive we were able to be more efficient.” 

Since the blood drive is an all-day event, volunteers and club members are given the opportunity to further strengthen their collaborative skills and comfort with each other. “When I had just joined, I was shy. But as time went by, I got more comfortable with them,” said Hernandez. “We all just got to hang out and honestly just vibe because it was really nice.” 

After only one blood drive being hosted by the current Spanish Club members, they picked up the process and procedures almost instantly. This same trend is, and hopefully will be, seen in the Red Cross Club and their leadership. President Desai noted the convenience of having another club there to make organizing easier and simpler was another addition to a positive experience for them. 

“For the Red Cross members, they all had a better understanding of how the whole process works and a sense of gratitude for being able to help the community and see the nurses at work,” said Desai. 

With the Red Cross Club’s notoriety, they were able to reach more people about donating while also getting more interaction after the blood drive through social media, specifically through Instagram. The Spanish Club hopes to follow suit by possibly creating their own accounts, which would increase their collective outreach and ensure more donors for the next blood drive. 

“The marketing tool would be a lot better. Because if our account gets bigger and bigger, that means more people will see it so more people will be interested,” said Hernandez. “It would help get the word out more, there will be supporting bases and we can help get in contact with the people that sign up for the blood drives a lot easier.” 

Clubs do a lot of work for a blood drive, but they can only do so much. The rest of the work is done between Señora Harmon and the LifeStream nonprofit organization. And knowing Sra. Harmon, she always has it covered. 

“Mrs. Harmon was very patient with Red Cross, training, and explaining the blood drive process to us,” said Desai. She adds that the club is grateful for the help and guidance she was able to give during the process. 

A blood drive for a high school is, in its essence, a way for students to enjoy themselves while giving back to their community in an important way. Hernandez said it perfectly, “I see it as a good opportunity to make ourselves better because we’re helping [people] who might be less fortunate get blood, and receive it so they can maybe walk or talk another day.”