Westminster High School (WHS) students and staff turned out in large numbers to donate blood on October 21. The blood drive was managed by Vitalant with the help of HOSA (Future Health Professionals) students, Kathy Nguyen and Lillian Phimmasorn. Throughout the day, donors visited the WHS wrestling room where they were greeted with plenty of snacks and beverages. After providing all the necessary paperwork including parent permission if applicable, donors sat and waited for their health screening.

Kathy and Lillian are both interested in careers in health care as nurse practitioners. They are taking advantage of every opportunity by registering in concurrent enrollment at Front Range Community College (FRCC) where they study Phlebology. Concurrent enrollment allows high school students to take college classes for both high school and college credit. At FRCC, Kathy and Lillian practiced drawing blood through veins in the arms and hands of classmates. They also trained with Vitalant ahead of the blood drive. 

Bryan Little, a Library Tech Teacher at WHS was able to donate blood in the United States for the first time after a rule recently changed to allow people who lived in the United Kingdom for over 6 months between 1980 and 1996.

Overall, Kathy Nguyen thinks the day was a big success. “The community pulled together for a greater cause,” said Kathy. “I learned how to run a blood drive, and I will take all the knowledge I've gained from this blood drive to better improve the quality of the next one that we will have in February.”

Click through the photo gallery above and stay tuned for upcoming blood drive dates.