Penn Hosts NHS Blood Drive

This month marks the return of the NHS annual blood drive; a schoolwide event that collects blood for local hospitals and patients in need.

Run by NHS, this event welcomes all students and staff to sign up to participate, regardless if they are a part of NHS or not. However, there are some guidelines for participation; donors must be at least 17 years old or 16 years old with parental consent to be eligible to donate and must weigh at least 110 pounds. The sign-up link is provided in NHS emails for members and is provided in QR codes on flyers around the school. Parental consent forms are also provided in room 144 or can be printed out using this link.

If you are interested, mark your calendar for November 21st and 22nd, and sign up for any time between 9:00 am and 1:45 pm. Be sure to drink plenty of water and eat an iron-rich meal beforehand, and don’t forget to wear a shirt underneath sweatshirts or wear shirt sleeves that can roll up. Most importantly, be sure to spread the word and encourage others to sign up. As senior, blood drive chair, Luna Liu, reminds us, “It’s important to donate blood because we have access to a lot of resources; we have a large population at Penn High School, and this gives us more variety in blood sources which will help save a lot of lives at the local hospitals.”