North Lenoir’s Aubre Joyner was one of dozens to donate blood at Wednesday’s drive, hosted by the school’s DECA program. Photo by Junious Smith III / Neuse News

LA GRANGE | North Lenoir’s DECA students will have strong material to present in March.

Karrie Lyn Deaver, Gracie Herring and Olivia Sutton held a blood drive Wednesday, which took place at the North Lenoir gym. The event took plenty of preparation for the students, but dozens showed up to donate as the Red Cross had volunteers setting up.

Among those who donated was North Lenoir senior Aubre Joyner, who said she wanted to give back by donating.

“I did it for people in need of blood transfusions,” Joyner said. “I want to be a pheblotomist when I get older and love helping people, so if it’s something I can do to assist I’ll do it.”

In March, North Lenoir’s DECA team will travel to Greensboro for a competition, the first for the school with the organization.

“It’s definitely exciting to be a part of history,” Sutton said.

As the team prepares for competition, the primary focus was to get people to the event to donate blood. About 50 signed up prior to the drive and many fulfilled their commitments with walk-ins also prevalent.

Herring said even if people don’t want to give blood, they can still assist by convincing others.

“Just because you’re scared of needles doesn’t mean other people are, so try to hype it up,” Herring said