Dona June Ekart prepares to donate blood for the 52nd time of record. (Johnson Publications photo)
CCS seniors and bloodmobile co-coordinators Kayla Schilke, right, and Ryelee Christensen wait for the next blood donor to check in. (Johnson Publications photo)
Local blood drive exceeds goals
The bloodmobile was here on Monday afternoon, located in the newly air-conditioned Imperial city gym. The blood drive was sponsored by Chase County Schools (CCS), and the students working on the bloodmobile committee are eligible to earn scholarships. The overall coordinator was CCS senior Kayla Schilke.
The goal was to collect 96 units. The blood drive actually received 101 units and had three new donors.
One of the donors was Dona June Ekart who has been donating blood since before records were kept. She will be 89 years old this November.
Ekart wasn’t sure how much longer she would be donating blood but she said she has been glad to do it.
“It is a wonderful program, and able bodied people should participate. It’s a very worthy cause,” Ekart said.
She stated that she was glad she has always been healthy enough to donate. She said she just felt it was time to get off the list.
As of this drive, she has 52 recorded donations. She stated that she began giving blood back before there were bloodmobiles.
Her first donation was in response to an emergency for a specific patient need, but she couldn’t remember exactly how long ago that was.
CCS is involved with the American Red Cross High School Scholarship Program each year. School Nurse Angie Paisley is in charge of the program and the students who participate each year.
The student committee is comprised of two seniors, two juniors and two sophomores. This year there are three seniors on the committee. They are Kayla Schilke, Ryelee Christensen and Jace Clevenger.
The program requires that the student committee organize every detail of each blood drive and have four drives during the year beginning with the one in the summer and three during the school year.
If they receive a total of 301 pints or more during the four bloodmobiles, the Red Cross provides $3,000 in scholarships to be divided among the seniors.
Upcoming bloodmobile
The next scheduled blood drive is Sept. 14 from 12 noon to 6 pm. Liz Mollender will be in charge, and the bloodmobile will once again be located in the city gym.