On Thursday, May 5, United Nations Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF) Club hosted a blood drive, giving students the opportunity to donate blood. UNICEF Club does volunteer work geared toward helping children and the community.

The club partnered with We Are Blood, a family-based organization in Central Texas, to hold the blood drive, which has taken place at Westwood for over five years. The blood drive helps the Central Texas area by providing blood to those who need blood transfusions or medical help in relation to bloodwork.

“I think that it normalizes donating and shows that it is not scary and can help out the community outside of Westwood as well,” blood donor Valentina Galeana-Ruiz ‘24 said.

Students aged 17 or above and weighing 115 pounds or more were eligible to donate. The annual blood drive also gave club members not eligible to donate the opportunity to support those giving blood. Volunteers helped escort donors back to class, ensuring donor safety.

“I think it’s a really fun and cool experience to help out with blood drawings and walk people back to their classes. I guess [the] most important [thing] is to support people who decide to give blood,” Volunteer Aiden Cheng ‘24 said.

UNICEF Club’s partnership with We Are Blood worked to raise awareness of the necessity for blood.

“I think that after the pandemic, people realize that blood is necessary for people to get better,” UNICEF Club StuCo representative Benjamin Yu ‘24 said. “I think that implementing, that with high schoolers to not only get volunteer hours, but also just helping the community [is important].”