Worthington Christian triplets find the perfect time to bring back the tradition of a school blood drive.
As triplets at Worthington Christian, juniors Tori, Elise, and Evie Bourgeois often seem to know what each other is thinking without a word being spoken. When science teacher Dawn McMahon was teaching a unit on blood cells in her AP honors class, the trio exchanged a knowing glance.
“(McMahon) brought up how students used to have a blood drive at Worthington Christian,” Elise said. “We were sitting in the same area, and we looked towards each other. We all thought it just seemed like the perfect circumstances to bring it back and bring awareness to this need in our community.”
The trio and school nurse Angela Vargas are organizing a blood drive from 9 AM – 2 PM on May 9 at the Upper School’s Auxiliary Gym. Since the drive is on a Saturday, community members outside the school can also donate.
According to the Red Cross, every two seconds, someone in the United States, whether they are recovering from accidents or burns, fighting cancer, or undergoing heart surgery or organ transplants, needs blood. In 2023, Central and Southern Ohio Red Cross facilities collected over 132,000 units of blood at nearly 5,500 community blood drives and six fixed blood collection sites.
However, the demand for blood far exceeds the supply. Worthington Christian hopes it can donate at least 50 units from its collection.
According to Vargas, students can choose between a traditional whole-blood donation or a Power Red donation, a longer process that separates out red blood cells and returns the remaining components to the donor.
For the Bourgeois sisters, the success of blood drives is measured by something beyond units and pints. Their father, Trevor, has aplastic anemia, a condition in which bone marrow stops making enough new blood cells.
Aplastic anemia often leaves its sufferers tired as well as more prone to infections and uncontrolled bleeding. Trevor, who was diagnosed with the condition in January 2025, undergoes blood transfusions twice a week.
“Once we got our driver’s licenses, we started driving our dad to the clinic,” Tori said. “We’ve got to see him get those blood transfusions. That made (the need for blood donations) a lot less abstract. We felt like we were more connected to it.”
Tori described the atmosphere at the clinic as being “actually a positive experience.”
“All of the nurses are nice, cheerful, and encouraging,” she said. “It’s nice to go in there and have people who know what you’re going through and still be happy.”
However, to donate blood, students must be 16 years old and meet certain weight criteria. Those who are 16 need to have parental permission to donate. Additionally, those who participated in the Dominican Republic mission trip will not be able to give blood at this drive.
“If you’ve traveled to certain regions internationally, you have to wait three months to donate,” Vargas said. “However, we are going to challenge the seniors and teachers who participated in the trip to find someone to donate blood in their honor.”
Only one of the three Bourgeois sisters meets all the criteria to donate blood, so they are encouraging friends to step up and donate. Evie said that it can be a hard sell at times.
While donating can feel intimidating, the consequences of a blood shortage are far more frightening. Just ask the Bourgeois family.
“Donating blood can be quite scary for some people,” Evie said. “One of my friends said she has never donated because she doesn’t like needles and everything. But because she knows us and knows what my dad has, she is going to donate. That connection really helps her overcome her fear. It’s a really selfless thing to do.”