The Northern New England Blog

By Emma C. Fermo, Red Cross writer Hilina, Red Cross blood drive organizer Hilina, a senior at Deering High School in Portland, Maine, never expected a graduation requirement to turn into a community-wide act of health advocacy. What began as a senior capstone project, a requirement for Deering students in their final year, quickly became something much larger. “I’m known to be an ambitious person, and I needed a good and bold idea,” the seventeen-year-old student said. Motivated by family members and friends impacted by sickle cell disease, Hilina worked with the American Red Cross to organize a sickle cell blood drive aimed at diversifying the blood supply to help patients in need. “I’m always confident that this means a lot to other people, even if I don’t ever meet the people who use the donations,” Hilina said.  Blood donors who are Black play a critical role in helping people with sickle cell disease, the most common genetic blood disease in the U.S. – and regular blood trans...