Red Cross blood drive today

Phi Theta Kappa organizes outreach event to boost Honors Society recruitment

KELLAN BRADLEY Reporter @kellanroundup

The Pierce College chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society is partnering with the American Red Cross to organize a blood drive Wednesday, Dec. 9, at Rocky Young Park.

A Red Cross bus will be on site from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. to collect blood from qualified donors. Alpha Pi Delta, Pierce’s PTK chapter, will set up a tent in the park to publicize and promote student enrollment in the international Honors Society.

“Our efforts can help save lives of people in our community,” said Che’ron Lewis, vice president of APD. “The health checks students receive while donating blood can also make the student aware of conditions they may have otherwise overlooked, like high blood pressure.”

The APD organizes events like the blood drive to raise student awareness of the PTK and to showcase the Honors Society’s stated emphasis on community outreach.

“Education, health and community are values we cherish within our Honors Society,” said Jonathan Saltzman, 21, a sophomore at Pierce College and a member of Phi Theta Kappa.

Saltzman is a nursing major and hopes to transfer to the nursing program at either the University of California, Los Angeles or Irvine. He said that membership in the PTK is shown on students’ transcripts and can help those like himself who plan to transfer to four-year universities.

“It shows universities that not only are you involved in extracurricular activities but that you’re performing at a level that they expect you to,” he said. “This recognition on your transcript definitely helps.” According to Saltzman, the Honors Society is actively involved in both student success and community service.

“Phi Theta Kappa’s purpose is really to focus on academic excellence and to help the students who are a part of the community succeed and reach their goals to transfer to the universities of their choice,” Saltzman said. “But we also have a large emphasis on community outreach.”

Freshman sociology major Steven Cardenas said he plans to participate in the PTK blood drive next week.

“Donating blood is important because if we have enough blood there might be someone out there who is in dire need of it,” Cardenas said.