Take this as literally as you can: The Saint Francis School class of 2017 is out for blood.

Tradition calls for the class to express its gratitude for all it has been given — by parents, teachers, administrators, staff and the surrounding community — by presenting a gift to the school for the use and enjoyment of future classes. In years past, these senior class gifts have included a set of picnic benches for the school’s senior courtyard and umbrellas to provide shade for those benches.

The 2017 class is relatively tiny — just 55 students — but its ambition is to make its impact felt as broadly as possible. Hence, the blood.

Rather than working together on a gift the benefit of which would be felt only on the school’s secluded Manoa campus, the students are organizing a blood drive in support of the Blood Bank of Hawaii, collecting as many pints of the life-sustaining fluid as possible to help those in need throughout the community.

The drive has personal resonance for several of the class members.

Jake Smotherman was only 3 years old when his brother James was born, but he recalls the sense of upset and concern that permeated the household when it was discovered that James had an intestinal defect that required intensive medical treatment, including multiple blood transfusions.

“Growing up, I was more aware of his surgeries and his overall well-being, but I’ve come to realize what challenges he faced and how important it was that there was blood available for his transfusions,” Smotherman said.

Smotherman will be donating blood for the first time in support of the drive.

“I don’t like needles,” he acknowledges, “but I will gladly do it.”

Fellow senior Rya Ornung was introduced to the importance of blood donation through her maternal grandmother, an ICU nurse.

“I would visit her sometimes at work, and I saw the families who were helped through blood donation,” Ornung said. “She once told me about a boy who had been in an accident and needed blood. She donated because she knew the need, and she always told me that if I have the chance to donate that I should do it.”

Ornung has already recruited her mother to join her in donating.

The drive is scheduled for 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 17 at Saint Francis School (2707 Pamoa Road). The public is welcome. Donors must be in good health, age 16 or older (16- and 17-year-olds need a signed parental consent form), weigh at least 110 pounds and have photo identification that specifies a birth date.

“I think this drive speaks volumes to the value of community that we have at Saint Francis,” Smotherman said. “We’re given a lot — from alumni and even from the volunteers that lead our sports teams — and it’s important that we give back to those that support us.”