Contact: Jenni Brockman St. Margaret's School's leading community service group, Basic Needs, hosted a blood drive on campus on Saturday March 25th. A Charlottesville-based chapter of The American Red Cross Association (TARCA) sponsored the blood drive. TARCA is universally recognized as being among the nation's premier humanitarian agencies. It is the largest supplier of blood, plasma, and tissue products in the United States. Throughout the year TARCA organizes local blood drives and donor programs that benefit individuals and communities around the world. Basic Needs is a student-run organization, with Sara Newman as president, and is sponsored by SMS faculty member ViAnn Farmer. The organization participates in various projects throughout the year, ranging from gleaning vegetables to educating students about the dangers presented by breast cancer and the AIDS virus. St. Margaret's senior Katie Farmer, ViAnn's daughter and an SMS day student from Millers Tavern, first introduced the idea of hosting a blood drive last October. Basic Needs approved Katie's plan and formed an alliance with TARCA to make the blood drive become a reality. Blood donors included citizens from Essex county and the Northern Neck, parents, day students, boarding students, and St. Margaret's School faculty. "The last time I gave blood was my senior year in high school," said second-time donor Hollis Duncan, assistant director of publications at St. Margaret's. "But the girls with their collective enthusiasm inspired me to donate again, which is something I hope to do more regularly now." "Quite a big undertaking" said ViAnn Farmer when asked to comment on the blood drive. "We are proud of the fact that almost all club members participated; that group effort enabled us to achieve this worthwhile community service objective."
Basic Needs members developed a strategy to publicize the event, organized an educational chapel service and coordinated the design and printing of t-shirts. Group members also made "special awareness" hearts, out of red pipe cleaners, for SMS students and faculty to wear and demonstrate their support for the blood drive. "The blood drive was a lot of work but it is definitely something that we hope to host again next year", said president Sara Newman. "The event was a tremendous success."
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St. Margaret's Basic Needs Group Organizes Blood Drive
St. Margaret's geometry teacher, Shelley Hooker, gives blood at the Basic Needs blood drive held last Saturday in the reading room of the Viola Woolfolk Center school library.
Sara Pirtle (seated) gives an Oscar-worthy "Ouch!" impromptu performance at Saturday's blood drive hosted by Basic Needs. "No it really didn't hurt," smiled Pirtle afterward. Kym Register (l.) and Katie Farmer console their amusing friend.
