Aldergrove Community Secondary (ACSS) students went the extra mile at last week鈥檚 blood donation.

Nadine Luteijn, a teacher who helped guide the drive, said it was very much a student driven initiative to raise awareness about the importance of blood donation and to inform new donors, especially students who turn 17 years old, that they may be eligible to donate blood.

鈥淥ne of my students, grade 12 student Mai Truong, who has consistently been involved in a variety of volunteer initiatives, shared how she was struggling this year,鈥� Luteijn explained. 鈥淭his significant part of her life was put on hold, and she did not know how long COVID was going to prevent her from doing some of the things that are very important to her.鈥�

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The Canadian Blood Services Partners for Life Program was something ACSS have had leadership students participate in before, but Luteijn said it had lost some momentum over the past two years.

鈥滿ai agreed to take it on, and very soon after there was an enthusiastic support group ready to take on the challenge. This very keen group of students, many of whom aspire to be future healthcare providers, educated each other and their peers about donating blood,鈥� she explained.

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The blood donor clinic took place at Parkside Centennial Elementary on Saturday, June 5th.

Twelve new donors joined the clinic because of the students鈥� recruitment drive.

Staff and volunteers from Canadian Blood Services received flowers and hand written thank you notes on behalf of ACSS Totems and ACSS blood club members.

鈥淭hank you to all the nurses and volunteers that come out every single day to help others save lives. As our way of saying thank you, we鈥檇 like to give a flower and a card,鈥� Truong said in a video shared on social media.

鈥淭his number was just shy of their goal of adding 15 donors, but they feel good about the progress,鈥� Luteijn noted. 鈥淎CSS Principal, Mr. Palichuk was a first-time donor. Vice-Principal, Ms. Clapton came out to donate as well.鈥�

If members of community would like to help the students with achieving their next goal, use the school鈥檚 Partner for Life ID, ALDE299869 when registering to donate.