Hotchkiss is now the school with the state’s largest blood collection in a single drive! St. Luke’s Society hosted its spring blood drive on April 18 and collected a goal-crushing 89 pints, enough to save up to 267 lives. View more photos.

Julia Widen ’24 just finished leading her fifth and final blood drive at Hotchkiss, and she is “so proud and thankful for everyone who showed up to make it such a success.” She said they had more student donors than ever, and she hopes they now will become lifelong donors. The Class of 2024 won a friendly competition among eligible donors per grade yesterday, and they will enjoy a Dunkin’ Donuts feed for all fall and spring donors.

Julia credits the Red Cross with helping Hotchkiss exceed its goal. “After many email exchanges, the Red Cross agreed to add two extra staff members to our drive. This made a huge difference in reducing the wait time for donors. I really hope that in future years they continue to recognize the capability and generosity of this community, and keep prioritizing our drives,” she said.

“I am also so thankful to all of the student volunteers who dedicated their time to manning registration, helping donors walk to the rest area, and so on, and to the faculty who donated baked goods that helped make such a positive experience for donors after giving,” Julia continued. “It was definitely our best drive yet, a success all around, and it was made possible by the sacrifice of all who participated.”

Throughout Julia’s tenure, blood drives at Hotchkiss have yielded a total of 347 pints of blood, which can save up to 1,041 lives. As Julia prepares to graduate in May, Clemmie Morlock '26 will be the lead organizer for the fall blood drive and beyond.