At OHS, clubs are always coming up with new ideas to spread awareness and support for their organizations. Although their goals may be different, they all aim for something in common: improving the development of their community. With this goal in mind, one club in particular stands out, as their hard work is changing lives for the better. 

Student government participates in the makings of the blood drive on campus. Specifically, the sophomores of Stugo plan this event in order to make a yearly difference in school and in the community. This year, the blood drive occurred on Nov 13 during school hours. The support of Vitalant, the nonprofit transfusion medicine organization, made the blood drive possible, but not without student involvement.

“We’ve been going around classrooms and asking people to sign up, and we’ve been out every morning, getting sign-ups in the center of campus,” said Sophia Thomas, sophomore.

Of course, spreading awareness for the annual blood drive throughout the school is always a main goal, and the organizations that partner with schools also benefit from this.

“I think it’s important for them to come to schools because there’s so many people, and they can get a large amount of donations in a short amount of time,” said Carrie Ballou, math teacher and supervisor of Stugo.

Stugo put in the time and effort necessary to make the blood drive a reality, and according to Ballou, that is essential for any event as it draws in more people.

“I think it shows them that you can plan an event and have it be successful, and it just shows that if you reach out to everybody, you can get people to buy into whatever you’re doing,” Ballou said. 

Clubs are the epitome of community values, where people help one another in strengthening the bonds with others. Even though a school blood drive seems uncomfortable, it is an example of how clubs focus on community improvement.

“On school in general, I feel like it brings people together and brings that sense of ‘you’re doing something good’ for the greater good of people, and it’s a fun day, so people just come in and they donate blood, save lives; it’s a good time,” said Jadyn Fisher, sophomore.

Students were not obligated to participate, but nonetheless, Stugo advocated for the blood drive as much as possible. Members of Stugo announced that each blood donation would be equivalent to three lives, signifying the importance of the blood drive.

“I think it just shows that you can really easily give back to your community and I mean, I know you’re giving blood, but really, you’re not doing that much and it’s saving three lives,” Ballou said. 

The impact a community event has on a school, can teach students to pay more attention to their surroundings and how they can get involved in a positive manner, and the blood drive provides students with this opportunity.

“It’s pretty important because I like helping the community and helping others, and this is one way that I can help contribute to a very significant degree,” said Parker Mills, senior.

With the blood drive wrapped up for the year, Stugo is confident that their community is even stronger as they witnessed their school come together for a nonprofit event. Their hopes for future success increase with each step towards their goals of public welfare. 

“Well, the two years that I’ve done it, because I did it at the end of last year, too, this has been a huge success,” Fisher said. “We’ve had a super positive reaction from everyone wanting to do it; I feel like everyone’s so much more excited to do it and so much more motivated, motivated to do good.”