4-H mom Cindy Schempp smiles for the camera while giving blood Thursday afternoon at the Atlanta Community Center.

4-H club promotes life-saving blood donation in the Atlanta community

[June 29, 2015]  ATLANTA - On Thursday afternoon last week, the Atlanta Ag 4-H Club hosted an American Red Cross Blood Drive at the Atlanta Community Center. The drive is one of the community service projects the club is doing this year.

4-H member Cavit Schempp acted as the spokesperson for the event said that a part of being in 4-H is to learn to serve the community through efforts that will benefit others. Cavit said the idea to host a blood drive came from a discussion between his sister Molly, also a 4-H member, and his mom Cindy. Molly then took the suggestion to the full club and everyone agreed it would be a very worthwhile community project.

In order to hold the blood drive, the 4-H club first contacted Caleb Liggin of the American Red Cross to get the date and the process started. Cavit said that next the 4-H members, most of whom are too young to give blood themselves, took the project home to their families, where they encouraged those who were able to donate. In the next step they created flyers to put around town letting the public know about the drive. The kids also announced the drive in their respective churches. And finally, Cavit said, they took the local phone book and just started calling people to ask them to participate. By the time Thursday afternoon came around, Cavit said they had 23 who had committed to dropping in during the drive, and another 20 who made specific appointments so they wouldn’t have to wait.

Inside the community center, Liggin set up in the entry way to get donors registered.

Once signed in, donors were taken into the largest front room at the center where nurses were set up with comfortable seating and equipment for donors.

Afterward, donors were invited into the small parlor area on the other side of the entryway where they were treated to sweet treats provided by the 4-H club. Cavit explained that having the sweets on hand was more than just a reward for donating, it was a necessary part of the process. “When you give blood, your blood sugar drops. So they come in and get something to eat and they feel better.”

According to the American Red Cross, summertime is a crucial time for blood donation. The need not only rises during the summer months, but donors also drop because of vacations and other summer activities. Therefore, the work of the Atlanta Ag 4-H Club was doubly important for the Red Cross.

The Atlanta Ag 4-h Club is led by Linda Griffith and has approximately 20 members. It is one of more than two dozen 4-H clubs in Logan County, boasting approximately 300 members.

[Nila Smith]