Blood Drives
Each year, Rancho produces four blood drives in which volunteers from the student body donate blood to save hundreds of lives every year! Rancho works alongside Blood Centers of the Pacific. For the best and most smoothly run blood drives, organization is key. The event is publicized through the daily P.A. announcements, posters, posts on the Facebook page, and spread through word of mouth. It is a good way to get the students involved and feel like they have helped by keeping an on-going tally titled "We've Saved This Many Lives." If a student has given blood six or more times, they earn a red honor cord which they may wear over their gown at the graduation ceremony. Rancho Cotate is the only school to offer this honor to blood donors. Rancho Cotate is proud to say that it is the leading blood donor high school in all of the North Bay.
Canned Food Drive
The Canned Food Drive is one of the biggest events ASB puts on, and it requires more time and dedication than any other event. Neighbors Organized Against Hunger, NOAH, the Cotati/Rohnert Park/Penngrove food bank, is the organization we donate to. Hundreds of spirit points, a competition between classes, help to produce more cans. There are also competitions between the teachers. At the end of the drive, we celebrate our total pounds with announcements in the winter rally and giving the winning teacher bragging rights. The usual canned food goal is 10,000 pounds, yet the average haul is 15,000. Our biggest year yet has been in 2014 when the school donated 27,450 pounds of food to NOAH. They have mentioned that the food we donate will last into the Spring, an achievement we are proud of.
Rancho Cotate Fire Relief Fundraising Drives
In October and November 2017, the Rancho Cotate student community united to gather donations for victims of the devastating Sonoma County Wildfires. The Associated Student Body (ASB), advised by teacher Jessica Holman, led the series of drives. She and the ASB class gathered to organize various donation options such as clothing, bedding,school supplies, and toiletries as well as a monetary drive. The students of Rancho Cotate came out in spades with their donations, including raising almost $400 deposited into Redwood Credit Union’s Fire Relief Fund; filling 21 backpacks with school supplies, and providing bedding for over 100 families. Special thanks go to Bella Notte Linens of Novato, California who generously donated $165,000 worth of high-end bedding. They were by far the biggest contributor to the Rancho Cotate Fundraising Drives for those displaced by the North Bay Fires. Fundraising efforts will continue through December with Rancho Cotate’s famous Canned Food Drive, which yields an annual 10,000 pounds and is donated to Neighbors Organized Against Hunger (NOAH) who feeds those residing in Cotati, Rohnert Park and Penngrove. If you are interested in contributing to our canned food drive, the Cougar Community greatly appreciates your support, and will accept donations dropped off to the main office at 5450 Snyder Lane, Rohnert Park.