Licking Heights educator, students honored at Red Cross dedication

For Steve Varricchio, community service is in his blood.

The Licking Heights business teacher and Distributive Education Clubs of America advisor was honored at the dedication of the new Newark Red Cross Blood and Platelet Donation Center on March 12 for his work to lead successful blood drives in the district and involve students in Red Cross service.

Licking Heights and Varricchio were included on the Honor Wall in the new center, which recognizes local organizations and businesses in the Red Cross East Central region of Ohio who go above and beyond in supporting the organization. Six other organizations across the 10-county East Central region were also recognized at the ceremony.

“The fact we got selected is nothing short of amazing. I'm surprised and humbled for myself, and I’m proud to represent the district,” Varricchio said. “Coming out of how many counties this covers, for us to be selected is humbling. More importantly, I’m so happy that the students and staff who have done the work over 16 years are being recognized.”

Varricchio has led the blood drives at Licking Heights since 2010, when DECA took over as the main club sponsor. The district went from doing one blood drive a year to three.

“Since I got involved, we have done 1,465 blood donations to the Red Cross,” he said. “Each whole blood donation can be separated into three parts, so you can save three lives with every donation. We have saved over 4,000 lives with our donations.”

Personally, Varricchio has been involved with the Red Cross since the first time he donated blood as a high school student in 1988. In his lifetime, he has donated more than 10 gallons of blood to the Red Cross. Now, as an educator and club advisor, he views his role as educating the next generation about the importance of blood donations and community service.

“I don’t know anyone personally in my family who asked for a blood donation, but we hear the stories over and over,” he said. “For example, we have a staff member whose daughter's life was saved with a blood donation. You hear stories like that and know it’s an easy way to quickly and consistently impact a lot of lives.”

Varricchio believes opportunities like participating in blood drives teach students practical skills in leadership, organization, event planning and customer services. It also provides students with opportunities to earn their required volunteer hours for graduation, and instills a lifelong interest in volunteering and community service.

It usually takes between 12 and 15 students to run a blood drive. Junior Ilyas Ali and sophomores Dikshya Adhikari and Deepshika Nepal are active volunteers and members of DECA. Ali assists with setup and is a regular donor, while Adhikari and Nepal check donors in and hand out snacks.

“Opportunities like this are important because you get to see how blood drives work firsthand. You learn management, leadership skills and if you donate, you get to help people as well,” Nepal said.

Information submitted by Licking Heights Local Schools.

This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Licking Heights educator, students honored at Red Cross dedication