North Andover High School students gave a little of themselves — literally — on Thursday, March 20, and got a sweet treat from an ice cream shop in return.
Steve Reppucci, owner of Mad Maggie's Ice Cream in North Andover, donated coupons for a free pint of ice cream for every donor at the March 20 Red Cross blood drive at NAHS.
"I was nervous at first, but I feel really good about donating. I know I saved someone's life," said junior Allison Quinlan.
Quinlan and her friend Erin McArdle were first-time donors last week, and said they'd definitely donate again, even though the process was nerve-racking. Besides the feeling of helping someone, getting a free pint of ice cream was a nice bonus for donating, they agreed.
McArdle's advice to other first-time donors?
"Don't get nervous, because it's not that bad."
At last week's drive, organized by the National Honor Society, more than 100 students as well as a few faculty and staff donated pints of blood. Volunteers from the National Honor Society helped the Red Cross workers hand out snacks and comfort nervous high-schoolers, many of them first-time donors.
Honor Society members stood by each of the donation cots, holding donors' hands and chatting with them to keep their minds off the donation process. They even serenaded some donors.
"The need is constant, and this is an easy way to help out. There's nothing like donating blood. It's giving life," said Abby Chmielecki, student president of the National Honor Society, who was one of the blood donors. "You can save up to three lives with one donation, and that's a big deal."
Reppucci, who moved his ice cream shop from North Reading to North Andover last August, is a regular blood donor and donated for the first time as a teen at a similar blood drive.
"The Red Cross is one of my pet causes. I like to see people getting involved. I think it's a good thing for (high-schoolers). The first time I donated was at my high school," Reppucci said. "Anything you can do to encourage kids to get involved. I was happy to do it (donate the pints of ice cream)."
The blood drive at the high school is a good way to introduce students to giving blood, perhaps getting them into the habit of donating, said art teacher Megan Sellner, National Honor Society adviser.
"If that's what it takes (to get them to donate), a little bit of ice cream," Sellner said, who noted that Reppucci's donation was generous.
The North Andover High chapter of the National Honor Society organizes two blood drives every year, one in the spring and one in the fall. More students donate at the one in the spring, said Sellner, because many juniors turn 17, the minimum age required to donate, over the winter months. Reppucci donated 90 ice cream coupons to last spring's NAHS blood drive.
Last week at the NAHS drive, the Red Cross supply of blood type O was critical, and several other types were in low supply. To donate, or to find a local Red Cross blood drive, call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE.
