High school junior Danial Khoshkehpazi was recently named Outstanding
High School Red Cross Club Leader by the American Red Cross on Long
Island, a designation honoring a student who displayed the greatest
service involvement in the Red Cross.
To earn the award,
Khoshkehpazi started an American Red Cross club at Deer Park (he also
started Red Cross clubs at his previous high schools, Half Hollow Hills
and Walt Whitman), convinced 35 students to join the club, volunteered
for five years, and provided ideas for new Red Cross activities for high
schools, including a first aid competition. He also recruited five
people to compete in the Goldman Sachs Foundation’s Red Cross business
plan competition.
“To determine the winner of the award, the
American Red Cross on Long Island analyzed volunteers and what they
did,” said Theodore Smirlis, adviser for Deer Park’s Red Cross chapter.
“The volunteer who contributed the most time and came up with new
projects was the winner, and that was Danial.”