A LESSON ABOUT SERVICE ON 9/11 ANNIVERSARY

RICHMOND, Indiana - A special award presentation was on the agenda as Seton Catholic High School students gathered for their morning prayer assembly Friday, Sept. 11, the 14 ^th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, and Principal Rick Ruhl used it as a teachable moment. “That day,” he said, “one thing people across the country did by the thousands, and thousands and thousands was to donate blood.”

He then announced that Seton Catholic had won two Community Blood Center (CBC) High School Leadership Grants for 2014-15, each with a $1,000 award, in the categories of “Most Improved” and for “Second Highest Percentage of Enrollment” participating in the school’s two CBC blood drives.

“We were very surprised,” Ruhl said about learning the small Richmond parochial school had won two of the five grants presented by CBC in its 15-county service area, where last year 118 high schools hosted 215 blood drives. “But we also know that in the Seton Catholic community we constantly strive to instill the need to love God, love others, and serve others. Donating blood is a natural extension of that service.”

CBC Richmond Account Representative Melinda Frech presented the $2,000 award check to Principal Ruhl and faculty member Shaunna Stamm, who serves as blood drive coordinator and advisor for student council, the sponsor group for the blood drives. Senior student councils members Jacob Stamm, Jack Brenneke, Mary Webster and Julia Reichley accepted the award certificates. Shaunna said the student council will determine how to use the grant money.

Seton Catholic students weren’t yet kindergarten age on 9/11, but they have grown up with a sense of service. Jacob Stamm said his classmates are inspired when they receive phone calls letting them know where their donation was used. “You forget about it and a few weeks later you find out your donation went to someone at this hospital,” he said. “It’s really cool and it makes it a lot more personal.”

Fellow student council member Mary Webster agreed. “Everybody is so scared, I don’t really like needles,” she said. “But then you get that call. Me getting a needle stick, compared to being able to save lives, that’s two different things!”

Three Ohio high schools also received CBC grants. Butler Tech won for “Most Donors,” Spring Valley Academy for “Highest Percentage of Enrollment,” and Miami Valley Career Technology Center for “Red Cord Excellence” (highest number of seniors registering to donate at least three times in their high school career).

Seton Catholic students won the “Second Highest Percentage of Enrollment” grant for strongly supporting the two blood drives they hosted in 2014-15, resulting in participation by 107 percent of enrollment.

Seton Catholic also won the “Most Improved” grant. SCHS had only 72 eligible donors in 2014-15, the smallest number of eligible student donor enrollment among CBC blood drive schools. The school added a December blood drive in addition to its regular spring blood drive. Students supported the drives with 77 registrations, a 166 percent improvement over the previous year.

Seton Catholic’s first blood drive of the new school year is schedule for Dec. 15.

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 16 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, 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 canidonate@cbccts.org or call 1(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 24 hospitals 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 .