Every drop counts — the message came to life during Sacred Hearts Academy’s blood drive, where students, faculty and the community come together not just to donate, but to support those in need. Seniors Elora Speltz and Tyler Beissel helped lead preparations for the Academy’s recent blood drive.
Beissel’s passion for promoting blood donation began sophomore year, when she learned about its life-saving impact.
“I have always been really passionate about donating blood (and) was actually excited to turn 16 so I could donate for the first time,” she said. “I remember blood drives being a very uniting community event at my local parish, so I naturally wanted to participate as well.”
In her junior year, Beissel and Speltz established the Lifesavers Club to build a community of like-minded students and advocate for those in need. In preparation for the March blood drive, Beissel organized and assigned roles to students to ensure the event ran smoothly.
Speltz said her involvement began with a simple intention. “Originally it wasn’t my intent — I really just wanted to donate my blood, but then I realized how important it was even more after I did it,” she said. “I connected with Tyler over that thought, and it just became something we started doing.”
Before blood drives on campus, Speltz and the Lifesavers Club focus on raising awareness about the importance of blood donation.
“We connected with each of our groupings from our Lifesavers Club and worked toward the best way to have the most advocacy and awareness throughout our school and community,” she said.
However, Speltz and Beissel said there are challenges they face each year.
“The biggest challenge has just been getting people involved because it’s hard,” Speltz said. “As an all-girls school, our available donor amount is already lessened based on eligibility requirements like height and weight, and not everyone wants to have a needle in their arm.”
Both seniors remain hopeful and encourage students interested in donating to review eligibility requirements and consider participating in future blood drives.
