Faculty, staff and students donated from the heart on Feb. 23, for the annual blood drive to provide blood for local hospitals.

“The blood center always needs blood to save lives, they need donors. If you can get kids a good experience when they’re 17 years old, they’re going to continue to be blood donors,” Mrs. Dawn Pfaff, student council adviser, said.

Homestead has been doing the blood drive for over 22 years. It gives students an opportunity to make a difference and do something for others.

Students are given the chance to make a difference in people’s lives, and it reflects positively back towards them.

“I just think of it as me helping other people out, and it makes you feel good to help others, so I just enjoy doing good things,” Andrea Griffin, junior, one of the main coordinators of the drive said.

“We do this every year because we have the ability to help so many people. We always have a good amount of donors which can make a huge impact for the blood center because one pint of blood can save three lives so we are helping so many people with our donations,” Melissa Le, senior on the student executive board, said.

When students volunteer for the good cause, they don’t do it for any gain other other than the feeling of doing something good for the community.

“We don’t get any money, there’s no newspaper press, this is all about doing the right thing and that’s another really good message for kids. Do right, and give blood. People need it and you’re saving lives,” Mrs. Pfaff said.

Different committees such as the food and decoration, promo, and theme committees work together to make the drive possible.

“This year, I was head of our food committee. We make sure that students get some carbs into their systems before they go back to class. Although we all have separate committees, we mostly work all together and help wherever we need to with sign ups or decorations or writing passes promoting our drive,” Rachel Fu, student on executive board said.

“I want to give our kids some props. Our students on student council, are getting no press, are getting no money, are getting no extra credit, are getting no merit award hours, they are planning this and organizing this and they do a really good job,” Mrs. Pfaff said.

“I really like the saying, “a single pint can save three lives, a single gesture can create a million smiles” because I think this idea resonates deeply in everyone during the time of the drive. We keep doing it, not just because our blood center is always in need of blood donors, but because it’s a communal event based on generosity and bravery,” Fu said.