Wilson recently hosted its third blood drive in honor of Reilly Webb, a Wilson student who died of leukemia in September of 2017. Junior Nora Webb, Reilly’s sister, played a huge part in organizing the drive, which took place Tuesday, November 13. 

The drive is geared toward helping patients who need blood. Nora explained that includes cancer patients, kidney disease patients, trauma patients, people going through surgery, and more.

“It means a lot that it’s in honor of Reilly. I’m really proud of how it turned out this year because we all put a lot of effort into organizing it,” Nora said. The efforts paid off: the drive collected 70 pints of blood from about 90 students.

Wilson has been holding blood drives since the 1970s. Participation has more than doubled in recent years.

Honoring Reilly has played a big role in the blood drive’s growth. Wilson usually hosts two blood drives a year, but this year there may be three. “There’s never enough blood for those in need,” Nora said.