On Tuesday, Oct. 3, Rockland Elementary School hosted a blood drive in honor of Ruthie Thomas, the 19-month-old daughter of Christopher Thomas, an English and theater teacher at LHS.

Ruthie was diagnosed with Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) on Aug. 30. HUS (formerly known as “E coli”) is an autoimmune disease that includes bloody diarrhea, seizures, kidney failure, among other complications. The disease most commonly affects children ages 5 and under, according to Mayo Clinic.

An idea for a blood drive was originally thought of by Rockland’s secretary, M.J. Thurau, when she saw a Facebook post about Ruthie and suggested a tangible way to honor her.

“Ruthie received several transfusions while in the hospital and we are first-hand witnesses of the power of people who give blood,” explained Mr. Thomas.

With the help of the Character Counts committee at Rockland, the school was able to host the blood drive along with a bake sale run by some of the students and their parents.

According to Lifesource Blood Services, the donations far surpassed the original expectations. With 118 donors, the drive collected a total of 101 pints of blood. Ninety-nine donors donated whole blood and one donor donated Alyx blood, which counts as two donations. Lifesource said 48 people were first-time donors and about 30 percent of all donations were type O blood, which they are always in need of.