Branson hosted a blood drive on campus Dec. 12, organized by Wiley Kendall ‘24 and in partnership with the Red Cross Organization.  

Kendall first got involved with the Red Cross in his freshman year through CPR and first aid courses online. 

“I also learned there that they offer blood drives and that you can sign up to host through their website,” Kendall said. 

The Red Cross Organization has helped many schools and organizations host blood drives in the past and this school year was Branson’s first. 

“I think that it is an important need because the national blood shortage got exacerbated during COVID,” Kendall said. 

Kendall worked directly with the Red Cross to organize the blood drive. 

“It was a lot of back and forth between a Red Cross representative and Branson faculty trying to figure out the logistics and the where and when. It took a while to find a locked-in date to optimize the most donations,” Kendall said. 

With the requirement of at least 35 participants, the Branson community got involved. In total, 45 Branson student, faculty and parent participants donated blood in the small gym. 

Whitney Livermore, dean of student life, was one of many donors. 

“I gave blood when I was in college. They had blood drives there a lot, so I used to give blood, but in my adult life, it’s been harder to sort of know where to do it,” said Livermore, grateful that this drive gave her the opportunity to donate blood again.

“I was really impressed to see a lot of Branson parents who signed up to come, which was really wonderful. That was a very meaningful community moment,” Livermore said. 

“Wiley and I both knew that not many Branson students would be able to do it because of the age requirement and so we spread it out to the Branson parents and neighbors. There were so many parents who were there so it felt like a big community moment,” Livermore said.