Albany High holds record-breaking blood drive

ALBANY, N.Y. (May 11, 2012) -- For the second year in a row, Albany High School students and staff rolled up their sleeves to donate a record amount of blood to the local American Red Cross.

And the sanguine Albany High senior who's been a driving force behind this and the school's other successful blood drives will earn a $400 scholarship from the Red Cross. 

Albany High holds blood drives three times during each school year. Since Fahima Muthuvappa (pictured at far right) started coordinating the drives two years ago, the number of donors has increased significantly. (Click the highlighted text to watch a News10 video clip about the blood drive and her work on it.)

The final drive of the school year on Thursday netted 89 pints of blood -- the most collected at Albany High in a single drive. Those pints could save as many as 267 lives, the Red Cross said.

The May 10 blood drive put Albany High well beyond the 230-pint goal for the year, said staff organizers Alicia Abdul, a library media specialist, and Stacey Saracene, a social studies teachers.

Thanks to the success of the three blood drives, the Red Cross donated a $400 scholarship to the Albany High. Muthuvappa will be the recipient. She said she'll use it towards her studies this fall when she starts Siena College as a biochemistry major.

Abdul credits Muthuvappa for stepping up the school's across-the-board participation in blood donation during the past two years.

"Stacey and I are very proud of all of the work Fahima has done in making her last drive (of six!) the most successful," Abdul said.

Muthuvappa also will be featured as one of NewsChannel 13's "13 Kids Who Care." The segment about her will air in June.

The mission of the City School District of Albany is to educate and nurture all students to be responsible citizens, critical thinkers and lifelong learners to successfully compete in the global community by providing an academically rigorous and safe environment in partnership with parents, students and the community. The district serves about 8,700 students in 15 elementary, middle and high schools. In addition to neighborhood schools, the district includes several magnet schools and programs, as well as other innovative academic opportunities for students, including four themed academies at Albany High School.