On Thursday, February 22, the Upper School Service Committee partnered with the American Red Cross and the Moorestown Rotary Club to host their annual blood drive. 

The MFS Service Committee has been helping host this event for over ten years. The blood drive took place in the West Building gym and was open not only to MFS students and faculty, but also to surrounding community members. 

“I have given blood several times,” said Chanelle Walker, MFS Director of Diversity, Community, and Belonging “At one point in time, I actually worked in a hospital [and] working in a hospital allows you to really see and feel the impact of the variety of illnesses people have … giving blood felt like a very easy way to [make a difference].” 

This blood drive was Harrison Kutalek’s ’26 first time giving blood. 

“I decided to donate because I want to help people wherever possible, [and] even though my donation feels small when you see how many other people donated, it’s still important to give whenever possible,” Kutalek said.

Service Committee members started preparing for this event by cold-calling individuals from a contact list provided to them by the American Red Cross. They informed potential donors of the blood drive and offered sign-ups. On February 15, they then catered to the MFS community by setting up a signup table in the Dining Hall Commons for students and faculty. 

“I enjoy this event because we have the opportunity to work with individuals outside our school community, like the American Red Cross, Moorestown Rotary club, [and] people in and around Moorestown,” said Avani Verma ‘24, MFS Service Committee clerk “It’s fulfilling to know that we have the power to run an event that helps save lives.” 

Service Committee advisor Patricia Tate worked alongside committee members by helping communicate with American Red Cross and Moorestown Rotary Club to coordinate this event.

 “The blood drive is important to me because it is a way to give back to individuals that you can’t create in any other way … it’s really personal to literally give parts of yourself to help save somebody’s life,” she said.

Going into the event, all 86 time slots were filled with blood donors.