Community Blood Center President and CEO John Hagins estimates one of every five donations they get during the school year is from a high school student.
“The high school blood program becomes a very large part of our campaign every year, and we actually honor high school students with a gallon grad. If they donate eight times during their high school years, they get a cord that they wear at graduation,” said Hagins.
The CBC has also provided over $35,000 in scholarships to high school seniors that are going on to post-secondary education.
This means that when school is out during the summer months, the CBC experiences a drop in donations from students.
On top of that, people that donate regularly may be changing their routines during summer or on vacation.
“The current need for blood donations right now is pretty critical. We're less than 50% of our par level for many blood types, including only about a two-day supply right now of Type O Negative, which is the universal donor,” said Hagins. “There’s a need for blood donors of all types, but specifically those that are O positive and O negative are really critical at this point.”
Hagins says the donation itself takes about seven minutes on average and can save three lives.
“Even with all the scientific advancements that we have blood donation is one that still needs to be a gift from one person to another and one volunteer blood donor to a patient, and that's what we need to happen over the summer to make sure that those blood donations are available,” said Hagins.
You can find a donation site near you on the Community Blood Center website.
There is also the Hodag STAT Blood Drive at the Hodag Dome on July 24th.
“Last year, we had over 200 people register for this blood drive, and it was a tremendous success, when you think about it, just in that one blood drive alone in Rhinelander, we impacted over 600 patients with lifesaving blood products,” said Hagins.
First time donors are eligible to receive a $25 gift card.
