
Granite City High School teachers Bill Puhse and Amy Heath were named the recipients of the Illinois Best School Blood Drive Coordinator Award. Pictured are Tad Middleton of the Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center, Puhse, Illinois Coalition of Community Blood Centers Government Affairs Director Margaret Vaughn, Heath and GCHS principal Daren DePew.
GRANITE CITY — Granite City High School faculty members Bill Puhse and Amy Heath, who oversee the high school’s National Honor Society, were recently presented with the 2016 Illinois Best School Blood Drive Coordinator Award on behalf of the Illinois Coalition of Community Blood Centers.
Since 2009, they have been organizing four blood drives per year on behalf of Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center. Not only do they target the student body, they hold the drives after school and into the evening so members of the community and parents can participate. It has become a tradition for alumni to return every year to donate. The pair have been responsible for the collection of more than 3,000 units of blood, which has had the potential to save 12,000 lives.
They also received a copy of House Resolution 1477, introduced by Rep. Dwight Kay (R-112th District), honoring their achievements as well as a Senate Congratulatory certificate from Sen. Bill Haine (D-56th District).