SIDNEY — The show must go on, and so must the spring blood drive at Lehman Catholic High School, even if a crowded school calendar forces some young donors to take a rain check.
Blood drive coordinator Melissa Safreed and her Student Council volunteers did a masterful job filling appointments and the donor beds for the Friday, March 24, spring blood drive. That’s despite stiff competition from the 39th annual all-school musical with a performance of “Godspell” Friday evening, plus the baseball team’s first scrimmage of the season Friday afternoon at Indian Lake.
“We had the school musical the baseball scrimmage and a double-header softball tournament,” said Melissa. “Students in the musical asked about donating and the answer was ‘absolutely not,’ because of the hot lights and everything. But our parents, alumni and faculty really pulled through.”
The final result was 77 donors, including 17 first-time donors, and 67 donations for 99 percent of the collection goal.
The Lehman Catholic community is dedicated to supporting Community Blood Center. Lehman hosts two blood drives a year on campus with this year totaling 179 donors, 45 first-time donors and 153 donations.
Lehman encourages seniors to qualify for the Red Cord Honor Program by registering to donate at least three times during their high school years. The class of 2016 had 40 graduates, and 20 earned Red Cords. The school is also strongly represented in the CBC/Vectren Lead The Way Scholarship competition with Lehman graduates earning $1,000 scholarships in 2015 and 2013.
It would be unusual for senior Katie Edwards to miss a blood drive. She started donating as a sophomore and made her fifth lifetime donation Friday.
“It’s just knowing you’re helping someone, and it makes me feel better about myself,” she said. “My whole family donates.”
Senior Blake Leffel qualified to wear a CBC Red Cord at graduation by making his third lifetime donation at Friday’s blood drive. He has not applied for the Lead The Way scholarship, but wouldn’t mind winning the $1,000 scholarship to use next year in college. It means creating a marketing slogan for a blood drive and an artistic expression of the theme to submit by the April 20 deadline.
“I liked the slogan they came up with a couple of years ago with Snapchat on the high school t-shirt,” he said. “I can’t imagine it would be too hard to come up with a slogan!”
Learn more at www.GivingBlood.org
Connect with Community Blood Center for the latest information and services at www.GivingBlood.org. Get fast and complete answers on how to make your first donation, organize a blood drive, or bring our education program to your school. Get all the updates in the CBC/CTS newsroom, find quick links to our social media pages, or schedule your next appointment to donate by connecting to www.DonorTime.com.
Blood donation requirements: Donors are required to provide a photo ID that includes their full name. Past CBC donors are also asked to bring their CBC donor ID card. Donors must be at least 17 years of age (16 years old with parental consent: form available at www.givingblood.org or at CBC branch & blood drive locations), weigh a minimum of 110 pounds (you may have to weigh more, depending on your height), and be in good physical health. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) changes blood donor eligibility guidelines periodically. Individuals with eligibility questions are invited to email [email protected] or call 800-388-GIVE. Make an appointment at www.DonorTime.com.
Community Blood Center/Community Tissue Services is an independent, not-for-profit organization. Community Blood Center provides blood products to 25 hospitals and health centers within a 15-county service area in the Miami (Ohio) and Whitewater (Indiana) Valleys. For more information about Community Blood Center/Community Tissue Services, visit www.givingblood.org.
