Schechter Community Donates Blood

by Liba Fruithandler, SSLI '28

Today, the New York Blood Center held a blood drive in the Schechter gym. Anyone in the school aged 16 and older was able to donate.

This event was planned in June by Mr. Connelly, an Upper School math teacher and the faculty advisor for Student Government, and Michelle McCaffrey, a member of the New York Blood Center. Connelly said, “She [McCaffrey] came to visit us about a month ago…. We went over the process, she gave us materials, and we took it from there.” McCaffrey and Connelly shared contact information and continued to plan for today's blood drive.

Junior Alina M. helped save lives today by donating her blood. (SSLI Instagram)

The process of donating blood begins with a questionnaire that discusses whether or not the donor is currently sick and judges eligibility for donation. Donor Miles Resnick remarked, “It’s super-duper easy, especially if you’ve donated before.” Resnick noted that “if your answer was yes [to most of the questions], you probably would have already said, ‘I’m not going to donate today.’”

Junior Alina Meir also donated today, and although she did not know much about the process beforehand, it was still “pretty much what [she] expected.” The process was somewhat straightforward, and there was food provided by the New York Blood Center that is standard for all blood drives. Principal Ofra Hiltzik also went out and got bagels from Bagel Boss for the donors to replenish their energy after donating.

There will be another blood drive in the spring, and that event will be similar to the one today.

Liba Fruithandler is a staff writer for Paw Print Now and has been published on the site since January 2025. Liba is currently a sophomore at Schechter School of Long Island and can be reached at the following email address: lfruithandler28@schechterli.org