| Publication:Venice Sun; |
Date:Dec 31, 2008; |
Section:Our Town; |
Page Number:OT 8 |
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VHS students give the gift of life
BY AUDREY BLACKWELL STAFF WRITER
The Suncoast Communities Blood Bank reported an increase in blood donations from high school students this fall, including those from Venice High and Pine View schools.
“The first round of high school blood drives wrapped up in October with incredible success,” a blood bank news release said. “Out of 875 students who registered, 400 of them gave blood for the very first time.”
Sarasota Military Academy reported the highest percentage of student participation, according to the release.
Greg Mallory, account executive for the blood bank, said the blood bank has worked with Venice High School for a number of years to get students to donate blood.
“Around 14 percent of the students donated during the last drive. We saw 72 kids,” he said. “This is the first year we have been able to work with students to help with recruitment on campus.”
Julie Platt, marketing manager for the blood bank, said that when they are at the schools, parents, teachers, faculty members and students all give blood.
While the blood bank is happy to get any of the blood types, O negative, A negative and B negative are most important to them, according to Platt.
“O negative is a universal donor type and gets a lot of usage,” Platt said. “But a person who has O negative blood can only receive O negative, and that is another reason that type is important to us.”
Suiting up
Platt said getting high school students to donate blood is helping to enlarge the number of eligible donors.
“The pool of eligible donors is dwindling at a staggering rate, while demand continues to grow,” she said.
Meridith Meerman, a senior at Venice High School, is in charge of promoting the blood drives at VHS. Another drive is planned for two days at the end of January, and she will get a team of kids to place posters around the campus and in the lunch room announcing it. Announcements will be made on VTV, the high school’s television station.
“One student volunteers to wear a blood-drop suit at lunch time for the drives,” she said, “and he asks the kids to go out and donate blood.”
There are several reasons students donate blood. Mallory said four students received a scholarship from the blood bank’s scholarship program and they want a way to give back.
Meerman said some students like to get out of class, and there are free food and T-shirts involved.
Some students are in the medical program at VHS and believe in the importance of blood donations.
Others want to give back to the community, which is a strong motivational force for Meerman, who has logged about 500 volunteer hours since her sophomore year.
She gives back to the community through the blood donation program, InStride Equine Assisted Therapy and Sarasota Defense of Animals, which she got into through the Key Club at the high school.
ablackwell@
venicegondolier.com
