Jesley Martinez Canales Captures LI Blood Services Award

Jesley Martinez used her position with Huntington High School’s Key Club to help coordinate the collection of much needed blood and in the process saved the lives of countless strangers in desperate conditions. In recognition of exceptional public service, Long Island Blood Services presented the teenager with a $750 scholarship award.

Huntington’s Key Club has been holding blood drives for decades and in the process collected many thousands of pints of the valued substance, which in turn was converted in numerous blood products that are vital to saving lives.

The Long Island Blood Services scholarship is awarded to students who exemplify community service and volunteerism in the organization of a high school blood drive. With fewer than two percent of New York community members giving blood, coordinating a blood drive is not easy.

David Blatt, an official with LI Blood Services was on hand at Huntington’s annual Senior Scholarships & Awards ceremony with a check covering the full amount of the scholarship.

Ms. Martinez is the Suffolk girls’ track and field shot put champion. She plans to study biology on a pre-veterinary medicine track at the University at Albany.

An Advanced Placement Scholar and Distinguished Senior, Ms. Martinez is a four-time All-County athlete for the Blue Devils. She performed with the high school’s chamber orchestra, garnered the Holocaust and Genocide Studies Award in the National History Day contest and qualified for both the Seal of Civic Readiness and the Seal of Biliteracy.