Way to Go! Hauppauge student organizes holiday blood drive
Gabrielle Catanzaro, a student at Hauppauge High School, coordinated a holiday blood drive to benefit the New York Blood Center. Credit: Jeffrey Catanzaro
A Hauppauge High School student organized a holiday blood drive last month that collected about 80 pints for the New York Blood Center.
Gabrielle Catanzaro, a junior, coordinated the drive to combat existing blood shortages and opened the opportunity to staff and students — the latter of which were required to return a permission slip and be at least 16 years old.
“I know there has been a major blood shortage, and I thought it would be beneficial to organize a drive to give back to my community and those in need,” said Catanzaro, 17. “I’m very thankful to everyone who donated, because every donation has the possibility to save multiple lives.”
To spread the word about the drive, Catanzaro created a flyer that was displayed throughout the school and emailed to school and district staff members by Principal Joseph Wieckhorst and Superintendent Donald Murphy.
“Gabrielle did all the work with organization, marketing and management,” Wieckhorst said. “Because of her, dozens of students and staff were able to donate blood to help this holiday season.”
Catanzaro is president of her school’s DECA Club and a member of the varsity golf team and the National and French honor societies. She also previously led a school initiative that collected Valentine’s Day cards for “health care heroes” that were donated to staff at St. Catherine of Siena Hospital in Smithtown as well as an initiative that collected hundreds of essential items for individuals in Ukraine.
Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
