Penn High School’s biannual National Honors Society blood drive was hosted on February 1st and 2nd in the CPA lobby. Available to all students over the age of 16 (parental consent required), NHS partnered with the South Bend Medical Foundation to save three lives per single unit. Even though the opportunity counts for 3 inside NHS hours, as Penn senior David Son (also the President of NHS) puts it, “In reality, it’s like unlimited hours because you’re saving three lives.”
The blood drive wasn’t only available to juniors and seniors in NHS; anyone over the age of 16 was allowed to donate. In Taylor Howell’s case, her birthday is in May of 2007 – a year before most of her class of 2026 peers. Though Taylor is not allowed to participate in NHS due to her grade, her age allows her to donate. When asked why she donated, seeing as it wasn’t purely for the volunteer hours, Taylor stated, “I want to help, and I have blood, and I can donate it, so I’m doing so.”
NHS hosts two of these blood drives every year, one per semester, so if you’re interested in donating next time, make sure to follow @PennNHS on Instagram and pay attention to announcements in the coming months for the opportunity.
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Reah Frydrych 
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Brandon Hall