There are some blood centers that work with local high schools to introduce blood donations to the community. The purpose behind this is not only to help a student continue their education but also to hopefully create a lifelong donor. Each blood center has their own specifics, but it seems as though the biggest thing offered to those students (along with the opportunity to save lives) is the chance to win a scholarship to pursue higher education or other opportunities. Depending on which blood center the student donates with will determine how they become eligible for various types of high school programs.
With the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center’s The Power of Life Scholarship, to qualify for a scholarship a student does not have to donate blood as long as their high school holds at least two blood drives during the school year when the scholarship recipients are chosen. They can also be an advocate of some sort for the blood center.
All candidates are required to complete an application, available through their high school counselor or online at giveblood.org. Applicants with a minimum GPA of 2.5 (on a 4.0 scale) will be considered. They must include with the application their official high school transcript sealed by a school counselor. They then use their imagination to submit a creative project or presentation that will educate and inspire individuals to commit for life.
These projects include items similar to the following:
- Submit a typed essay or blog entry (max 500 words);
- Create a web page;
- Film a commercial or video (max 1 minute);
- Record a song; or
- Any other professional media they can think of
Other blood centers have their own process, but whichever way they choose to go the main thing is just encouraging the nation’s youth to help out in their communities. Some of the blood centers also offer a workshop to better the education for highschoolers, in addition to scholarship money. What the blood centers know is that high school students play an important role in the community and helping maintain the region’s blood suppy. For the most part, high school students are first-time donors, and the blood centers want to create a good donation experience in hopes of generating a regular blood donor.
What were the blood donor programs at your high school like?