The National Honors Society (NHS) club at West High recently partnered with the UCLA staff to organize a blood drive on March 16^th.  The event took place throughout the entire school day in the gym, where several nurses worked to make the drive a great success; there were approximately two hundred blood donors.

   Each participant, seventeen years and over, donated one pint of blood, which can potentially save three lives. Antonio Lopez-Valenco (11) enjoyed the experience, stating that it was all “for a good cause.” Another donor, and NHS member, Erica Liu (12) commented that she initially felt nervous, but was thankful that, “It didn’t really hurt as much as [she] thought it would.” 

   At the end of the blood drive, NHS president Rachel Peters (12) summarized, “It went really well.  It ran really smoothly, even in the beginning when it started, and we haven’t really had any problems.”  The National Honors Society club hopes the event will continue to be a success in the years to come. Erica Liu (12) advised future blood donors, “Drink a lot of water, stay hydrated, and eat before you donate blood, and bring an iPod to listen to while you donate.”