63.0°,
Partly Cloudy with Haze Mepham gives back by giving blood
Mepham High School senior Kyle Wechsler skipped class last Wednesday morning. No, he hadn’t forgotten to study for a big test. Wechsler, 18, went to give blood in the school gymnasium.
The Mepham Key Club sponsored the drive with the Bellmore Kiwanis Club and Long Island Blood Services. Students had to be at least 16 years old to give blood.
It was Wechsler’s fifth time donating blood at Mepham. “It gets me out of class, and it saves lives at the same time. It’s a win-win situation,” he joked.
Wechsler, 18, who will study business at Baruch College in the fall, said he encourages any student who is old enough to give blood. “It’s not scary,” he said. “It doesn’t hurt at all. It’s just like giving blood at the doctor.”
Classmate Erika Gadafi, 18, who plans to study marketing at the University of New Haven, was giving blood two gurneys over from Wechsler. “You shouldn’t worry,” Gadafi said. “It’s not as bad as you think it will be, and it benefits people who are in need of blood.”
According to Long Island Blood Services, a standard donation of one pint of blood can save three to five lives.
Mepham Key Club adviser Thomas Mazeika, who has taught special education at Mepham for eight years, said the blood drive is about giving students the chance “to give back,” adding that “a lot of them don’t realize how painless it is.”
John Scalesi of the Bellmore Kiwanis Club is the Key Club’s community adviser and a longtime volunteer firefighter. He said students earn community-service credits toward graduation by giving blood. It also teaches them about the importance of volunteerism. “Instead of the kids going out and getting in trouble,” he said, “they can look to how they can do charity work.”
“It’s a wonderful feeling [for students] that they can save lives,” said Carol Levitan, the school nurse, a blood drive organizer. “It gives them a feeling they’re special.”
As the morning progressed, students continued to stream into the gymnasium, ready to give blood. A line formed outside the donation center. At the head of the line was school Principal Michael Harrington, who had come to donate himself. “They start now, and they become blood donors for the rest of their lives,” he said.
