Russellville High School’s National honor Society hosted a blood drive on Wednesday and, thanks to many community members and students, officials said it was a successful event.

Deedra Moore, who serves as the NHS advisor, said the blood drive was able to garner 353 viable pints of blood, which surpassed the group’s goal of 348 pints.

The total also meant that for the second year in a row, RHS has hosted the largest one-day high school blood drive in the American Red Cross Alabama Central Gulf Coast region, Red Cross officials confirmed.

“I’m very proud of all our students for working hard to find willing donors to come out and support this event,” Moore said.

“I’m also very proud of our local community for caring enough to take time out of their day to donate blood that could ultimately save many lives.”

According to the American Red Cross, every pint of blood that is donated has the potential of reaching three hospital patients in the Alabama Central Gulf Coast region, which Franklin County is a part of.

According to those figures, the blood drive held at RHS will be able to potentially help 1,059 patients close to home.

“Giving blood is such a simple task but it can really make a difference in a person’s life,” Moore said.

The American Red Cross has determined that someone in America needs a blood transfusion every two seconds and nearly five million people need blood transfusions each year.

The American Red Cross supplies over 40 percent of the nations blood, so Moore said this really shows the importance of Wednesday’s event.

“We had many students who also chose to give blood, and we’re glad they’re learning early on how important it is to help other people.”

The RHS NHS blood drive is an annual event, and Moore said it has been growing over the past few years.

Red Cross officials said that in the last ten years, RHS ranks as the fifth largest one-day high school blood drive in the entire American Red Cross Southeast Division.

“In 2011 we were able to collect 206 pints in four hours after a two-hour snow delay, and last year we collected 304 viable units of blood, which made RHS the number one school blood drive in the Alabama and Central Gulf Coast Red Cross region for the first time,” she said.

“We’ve gone up every year with how many pints we’ve been able to collect, and with the community’s support, we hope to continue to increase our numbers in the future.”