On November 15, in the East Gym, club HOSA ran the Cerritos High school annual Blood Drive in partnership with Cedar Sinai, starting from 7am, ending at 1pm. Students of all grades were invited to sign up through a questionnaire a week before the event to donate their blood. Senior and HOSA member Cindy Porciuncula commented, “We’re just happy a lot of people who are younger are still signing up, we were betting on a lot more teachers than students.”, with 62 students signing up, the club was ecstatic over its turn out, now in its second year running since Covid.
Partnering with Cedar Sinai, the gym was transformed into an organized center where students were able to get comfortable before and after their donations. With 6 stations running, students were able to efficiently donate while still being comfortable, with HOSA providing snacks and water for those who needed it in their makeshift cantina area. Cerritos was provided with 2 RN’s, with the rest being certified phlebotomists, reassuring Dons that they were in safe hands. All donations went directly to the Red Cross, and are then distributed to different blood banks across Southern California.
Cedar Sinai has been partnering with Cerritos for over 14 years, and as Cedar Sinai’s Blood Drive Coordinator Darlene Garcia discussed, “Students usually stay on the chair and nurses will assess how they look or how they feel, and if they’re good, we keep them for 15 minutes, and if they’re good students go back to class with their donor gifts.” Dons were able to get a number of gifts for their donations, not just a bonus of 4 community service hours, including a HOSA Blood Drive t-shirt, gift cards, and other memorabilia. Senior Cassidy Bartyzel was a first time donor, yet was pleasantly surprised with how efficient the Drive was, “It was well organized and they had snacks after, which was really nice, especially after giving so much blood.” Students were required to give at least a pint of blood, but were encouraged to take breaks if they felt lightheaded or dizzy. Another year of Cerritos High Schools Blood Drive went off without a hitch, and HOSA is excited for another year of donations.
