When the students at AHS heard blood supply was low after Harvey, they decided to change that fact.

The AHS HOSA Future Health Professionals sponsored a blood drive on Sept 14 to help replenish the supply lost during hurricane harvey. HOSA hosted this drive and student members helped to run it throughout the day. From 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., these students helped with the setup, teardown, recruitment for donations, collecting attendance data, and monitoring patient recovery.

“The storm prevented the usual donors from being able to give and then blood was shipped out to other regions, outside of Houston. Florida sent us blood, but now we need to send them some back,” HOSA staff sponsor Marguerite Bagwell said.

The students certainly came through as 180 people attempted donation, and out of those, 133 successfully donated and it counted for 162 donations as some gave double red cells, Bagwell said.

Students had an opportunity to sign up to give ahead of time, but walk-ins were also accepted. Many students said they felt an urge to help.

“I wanted the chance to save lives before I have a medical degree,” senior Hailey Higginson said.

Students have to be 16 years old, with parent permission, or older and must weigh at least 122 lbs to be able to donate. Some want to donate and simply do not qualify.

“ I was devastated when they told me I couldn’t donate,” senior Beka Renteria said, “ and I wanted to contribute to our community. But it just made me want to donate even more in the spring.”