Laura Loomis
No need to fear, Red Cross Club is here to put extra blood to good use. Students can catch a glimpse of their efforts on campus at the MC blood drives.
“Mostly we are concentrated on doing blood drives here at school,” MC senior and club President Polina Guseva said. “We get as many people and volunteers involved as we can so we can continue doing these events.”
The club impact extends beyond the two blood drives held at MC each year.
and Vinny Arado at the last blood
drive at MC | Photo Courtesy
of Polina Guseva
“Meetings are held in Ms. Stenger’s room and during these meetings we also talk about other outside volunteer events we do,” Guseva said. “We volunteer at runs or we do charity events around San Diego. Last year we did a beach cleanup and it was really fun because we got to stay at the beach later and hang out with everyone and collect a bunch of trash.”
Club Vice President and MC senior Arianne Oabel was lucky enough to reap the benefits of club involvement.
“I’m looking to go into the medical field and I wanted to see what I could do here at MC to make a difference in a sense that it’s something that will benefit me in my career path,” Oabel said.
The positive influence the club has left on Oabel pushed her to gain an officer position that would allow her to reach out to show her appreciation.
“Red Cross Club gave me an opportunity to go to an internship over the summer and I wanted to make sure everybody else could be exposed to that experience,” Oabel said.
Club members have the satisfaction of knowing their work is done for good, giving strangers another chance at life.
“The [blood drives are] pretty much student run and we ask for donors in the quad and we are able to have those blood donations sent around San Diego to different hospitals,” Oabel said. “It’s pretty cool we can impact so many people.”
| Photo Courtesy of Polina Guseva
The importance of volunteer donors is never overlooked, especially by those running the club and seeing the help of a single donation first hand.
“You’re saving lives,” Guseva said. “All the people who donate blood save at least three lives and that’s a huge impact on yourself as a person, too. You’re basically being a hero.”
The officers openly encourage others to get involved with this life-changing club.
“It is one of the clubs that can make a direct impact on the community,” Oabel said. “We are super friendly and have lots for [members] to do. We can even hang out outside of Red Cross Club. We are totally friendly.”
Find the club on Thursdays at lunch in J-2 saving the future of the community.
