NEW CASTLE COUNTY, Del. – Archmere Academy in Claymont and A.I. duPont High School in Greenville both helped out Blood Bank of Delmarva (bbd) in tremendous fashion by putting up big numbers during their fall semester blood drives held on Thursday, November 21.
At Archmere Academy, BBD staff collected 28 units of lifesaving blood, while 20 minutes away, A.I. duPont collected 22 units.
A combination of mostly students, with some teachers and parents in the mix, teamed up to save lives at Archmere Academy. BBD leadership is trying to increase youth donors, especially since high school and college blood drives have decreased by 20 percent compared to four years ago, and Archmere did a lot to further those efforts in the midst of the three-week blood emergency declared on November 11.
Among the Archmere students donating (most of them first-timers) were seniors Charlie Ramsey, 18; Kiisi Salami, 17; Cassidy Fanning, 18 (a second-time donor); Elisabeth Small, 18, and Kate Venditti, 17; and juniors Isabella Anastasia, 16 and Tara Phillips, 17.
“Part of it was saving a life, and the other was, I’ve always been scared of needles, “said Ramsey, one of the first-time donors. “So, it was a little bit of wanting to get over that fear, and I did.”
Archmere school counselor and psychology teacher Jon Jezyk also donated because he enjoys helping people with his universal blood type, O negative.
Meanwhile, A.I. duPont High School also did its part to help put a dent in the deficit amongst young donors. Principal Tyler T. Downes watched with pride as students came to the auxiliary gym to donate blood. It reminded him of when he started donating blood at Delmar High School in Sussex County.
“We’re trying to create as many opportunities as possible for our kids to get partnerships in the community,” Downes said.
Junior Isabella Lemon, 16, was among the donors. This was actually her second time donating; her first time occurred during the spring semester blood drive at A.I. duPont.
Blood Drive coordinators Melissa Johnson, the digital communications teacher, and Diana Lopez, the English as a Second Langue instructor at A.I. duPont High School, organized this blood drive, and they recruited an army of student volunteers and donors from their respective classes. Volunteers such as Kayla Blyden, junior, 16; Juan Garcia, freshman, 16; Juan Lopez, sophomore, 16; Rodrigo Castillo, sophomore, 16 and Novia Luna, sophomore, 16, took care of donors in the café.
Senior Astryd Guerrero, 17, donated for the third time in her young life at the Tigers’ blood drive.
“There’s people who actually need it,” Guerrero said.
Among the other donors at Alexis I. duPont High School were Jeremy Sapp, senior, 17; Sherlyn Fuentes, senior, 18; Astryd Guerrero, senior, 17; Jasmin Sauce, senior, 18; Leslie Herrera, junior, 17; Olivia Foster, senior, 18; Gamire Bennett, junior, 16, and Sam Quinn, senior, 17.
