MACON, Ill. (WAND) – An Illinois student’s efforts to save lives with a blood drive earned her a $1,000 scholarship.
On June 7, 2019, Meridian High School student Hannah Reichert hosted a drive at the school and collected 25 blood donations. She then entered a scholarship drawing and won that reward, along with a gift card.
Reichert was part of the American Red Cross Leaders Save Lives program, which encourages high school and college students to host blood drives, allowing donations to stay active during the summer months and winter holidays. The Red Cross said donations tend to be less at those times, because donors who give in high school and college blood drives often don’t donation during those times of year.
Those drives account for close to 20 percent of Red Cross donations during the school year.
As a senior at Meridian, Reichert expects to graduate in May 2020 with the goal of pursuing higher education. She said the experience she had in the Leaders Save Lives program was valuable.
“I gained responsibility and awareness for people in need of blood products,” she said. “It’s amazing to be a part of a lifesaving mission.”
Students can sign up now to be part of the program, which happens from Dec. 15, 2018 to Jan. 15, 2020 during winter break.
People who want to donate blood can do so by downloading the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting this website or calling 1-800-RED CROSS. More information can be found through each of those resources.
