The Youth Leadership of Selma-Dallas County Class XII hopes people give more than candy and flowers from their heart this Valentine’s Day.

The class is sponsoring a blood drive from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturday at the Walker-Johnson branch of the YMCA.

The class listened to a presentation from a representative of the American Red Cross recently and jumped into action.

“There’s such a blood shortage right now,” said Carolyn Powell, Leadership director. “They were really moved by what they heard.”

In keeping with the day’s theme, volunteers will provide candy for those who donate blood. They will also give away T-shirts.

Students from all seven public and private high schools in Dallas County make up each year’s class and meet monthly with a different theme. This is one of a series of projects for the students, who will graduate the program in May.

Leadership helps the students develop their community by developing personally.

“We instill volunteerism and community service as the core component of what we do,” Powell said.