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YADKIN COUNTY, N.C. – News of the death of Winston-Salem Police Sgt. Mickey Hutchens brought hundreds of people from around the Triad to Yadkin County for a blood drive at Forbush High School, Hutchen’s alma mater.

What started as the school’s annual blood drive became a makeshift memorial for the small, tight-knit community.

“Officer Hutchens, I knew him to be a deacon at Forbush Baptist Church,” student organizer Chase Edwards said. “This is our way of giving back to him.”

Hutchens died Monday night, one week after a suspect shot him in the face during a foot chase on Peters Creek Parkway. On Tuesday, many came to the high school to honor their fallen neighbor.

“The community, in times like these, we try to be as helpful and as supportive as we can, and this is just my way of showing support,” Lisa Hobson, a blood donor, said.

From registration to checkout, the effort was primarily run and organized by students at Forbush, most of whom had never met Hutchens.

“They serve and protect every day to keep us safe,” Edwards said. “And to be able to come out here and give blood is just an amazing thing that we can do for them.”

The school will hold a second blood drive in Hutchens’ honor on the day after Thanksgiving at First Baptist Church in Yadkinville from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.