Chapter Spotlight: Pickens High School HOSA Students support Red Cross blood drives

Pickens High School HOSA - Future Healthcare Professionals organization volunteered at two summer blood drives for the American Red Cross. I, Reece Wheeling, Jordan Autrey, and Nola Chester along with the amazing Red Cross employees worked the first summer drive on June 14th at Mount Zion Church, where we had an amazing outcome of 31 participants. Thank you, Pastor Mock, for supporting our organization by allowing us to hold the drive. On July 8th, we held our second blood drive at the Pickens County Recreation Dept., where we had the opportunity to work with our HOSA advisor Mrs. Zuidema and former club member Sofie Perez. Once again we had over 30 participants, collecting over 36 units of blood exceeding our goal of 25! Thank you, Brian Jones, for allowing us to hold the drive. Holding these blood drives are extremely important for our community. Not only do we get the chance to learn and volunteer our time but we also connect with the people in our area. You get the chance to save three lives with just one donation. According to the American Red Cross our nation is in a severe shortage of blood, this can potentially lead to a patient not receiving the proper care. Anyone from the age of sixteen (with parental consent) and older can donate as long as they meet the requirements that can be found on the website www.redcrossblood.org. If concerns about medications or medical issues refrain you from donating, you can use the previous website or call 1-800-733-2767 to confirm you are eligible. Your next opportunity to support HOSA will be on September 23rd from 9AM to 2PM, at the Pickens County Recreation Dept. You can make your appointment to donate on the American Red Cross app or on the American Red Cross website. We look forward to seeing you on September 23rd. Thank you for supporting PHS HOSA! Reece Wheeling- PHS HOSA Reporter 2022-23