Sofia Villagomez and Grace Ferguson partner with the American Red Cross to lead a group of Severna Park students and community in relieving the growing strain on the nation’s blood supply due to COVID-19.
Severna Park Maryland, December 15, 2020 -- Seniors Sofia Villagomez and Grace Ferguson planned and held a blood drive at St. Martin’s in the Field Church, overcoming the endless roadblocks presented by the changing COVID-19 CDC guidelines. A total of 30 blood donations were collected on December 15th. The final three goals devised to measure their success included: recruit a location to host a blood drive, conduct a social media campaign with at least 35 reposts to provide donors and sufficient volunteers , and personalize 50 thank you cards for all volunteers. That’s exactly what they did.
Of their successful day at the blood drive, Villagomez said “It’s one of those things you don’t truly understand until you experience it. Helping to set up, check in, serve snacks, and aid donors in feeling at ease was a lot of hard work but so rewarding.” Having to change their goals 5 times and even create a contingency plan, what seems like a fairly simple task turned out to be much more. “Although we weren’t able to host as many donors as initially planned, we are so blessed that we had the opportunity to help save at least 120 lives through our blood drive” Ferguson said.
“We would also like to thank everyone in our community who helped us make this blood drive possible during these unprecedented times. I would personally like to thank my church St. Martins in the Field for working alongside Sofia and I by providing us the space and community to recruit volunteers and make this all possible” Ferguson said. “Another special shoutout to our awesome 10th grade group members for all their hard work and determination to help spread the word and help relieve efforts in local hospitals during this time” Villagomez said.
