Thanks to their generosity, 99 pints of blood were collected, which will help save lives throughout Dutchess County.  When one person donates a unit of blood, it can be separated into individual components to save multiple lives and helping cancer and surgery patients, accident and burn victims, newborns and mothers delivering babies.

NHS students began their work two weeks before the blood drive, hanging signs, completing donor paperwork and most importantly, recruiting donors.  Seniors Christian McGaw and Charles Brady were especially helpful enlisting donors. The day of the blood drive, volunteers worked as escorts assisting donors to the snack area, keeping the refreshment area clean and stocked, and keeping a watchful eye on the how donors were feeling. 

This spring, our donors received extra attention from 3 therapy dogs who came to the small gym throughout the day to help ease the fears of any nervous donors.  We welcomed two King Charles Cavaliers, Oliver & Sydney, along with their handler Christina Grimaldi, who was on hand in the morning. Sayde and her handler Jean fortunate also came to the drive later in the day, to keep the students happy and comforted.  Everyone thoroughly enjoyed having the loveable, friendly dogs available for petting and soothing, so our sincere appreciation goes out to the dogs and their owners for their help.

New York Blood Services, who runs the drive, brings traditional pint collection setups but also brings ALYX machines which collect double red cell donations.  This double collection is very beneficial since it helps twice as many people.  The spring drive, combined with the blood drive held in November 2016, collected an impressive total of 191 units donated from Our Lady of Lourdes. 

The fall blood drive will be held in November 2017.