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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
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[July 01, 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.
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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.
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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.
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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] |