Driving toward an education

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BELLEVILLE - Two local high school graduates got a chance to earn money for college this summer while giving back to the community, thanks to the American Red Cross's "Making a Difference" scholarship.

The Making a Difference Educational Scholarship program is unique to the Greater Alleghenies Blood Services Region of the American Red Cross, said Meghan Stahl-Skinner, senior field representative of donation centers of the American Red Cross. The region gives out an average of 150 to 200 scholarships per year since the program started in 2002, she said.

Scholarship recipients are offered the opportunity to host a summer blood drive in their community in exchange for scholarship dollars. Sponsorship involves planning the event and recruiting area residents to donate. To earn the minimum $500 scholarship, the blood drive must collect at least 30 units of blood, according to a press release by the Greater Alleghenies Blood Services Region of the Red Cross.

Steve Campbell, field representative of the region, said the scholarship program started as a way to engage high schools in sponsoring community service in the form of multiple blood drives during the school year.

"Since most donors start their donation career in high school, the American Red Cross felt it only appropriate to 'give back' to the schools in the form of a scholarship based on total units collected during the school year," he said.

School administrators decide which student or students receive the scholarship, Campbell said.

"The selection criteria vary from school to school," he said. "The recipient must be going on to some form of post-secondary education. The (money is) transferred directly to the recipient's account at the financial aid office of the institution of higher education. Some schools require essays or applications, while others look at academics or community service."

The money can be used for any college-related expense allowed by the respective financial aid office, Campbell said.

"Most students apply the (scholarship) to tuition, room and board, or books," he said.

Although scholarship recipients have the opportunity to host a blood drive during the summer, the scholarships are given out during the school year, Campbell said. During the school year, the students host blood drives and can earn a minimum of $250, assuming 45 to 100 units of blood are collected. The more units collected, the more money the student can earn, he said.

"Because 29 percent of our blood is collected at high schools and colleges, it is difficult to meet collection goals during the summer when school is not in session," Campbell said. "The scholarship award is more lucrative during the summer because of this reality. Students that receive the scholarship during the school year are given the option of sponsoring a summer drive at their church or some other community site to earn additional scholarship dollars."

Seventeen students received scholarships in Huntingdon, Mifflin and Juniata counties this year, he said.

Lauren Shoop, of Belleville, is one of those recipients. She said one of her teachers at Mifflin-Juniata Career and Technology Center, where she has previously attended school, applied her for the scholarship because she had hosted two blood drives in the past through the school.

The Indian Valley High School graduate said in the fall she plans to attend the Licensed Practical Nurse program at the technology center. Eventually, she hopes to become a registered nurse, she said.

"It would be a really big help for me to go to school," she said about the scholarship.

To plan for the drive, Shoop said she went around to different businesses and put up posters, as well as made phone calls to past donors. The Belleville Fire Co. also helped recruit donors by putting up a sign for the drive, she said.

Sponsoring the drive helped give Shoop experience for becoming a nurse, she said, because the drive allowed her to work with other people.

Shoop said it's important to donate blood because every two seconds, someone in the United States needs blood. One pint of blood could save up to three lives, she said.

She added that when it comes to donating blood, she always tells people, "You never know who's going to need it later on."

Campbell said Shoop's blood drive drew 38 donors and collected 30 units of blood, earning her a $500 scholarship.

Amanda Carvell, another local recipient, hosted two blood drives: one in Richfield and one in McAlisterville. The Richfield drive collected 44 units of blood and the McAlisterville drive collected 33 units of blood. Because of both drives' success, Carvell received two $500 scholarships to attend Millersville University in the fall, where she plans to study social work, she said.

The Richfield native, who graduated from East Juniata High School this past spring, heard about the scholarship through the National Honor Society. As a member of the society, she previously had the opportunity to help with blood drives, so her guidance counselor applied her for the scholarship, she said.

Through hosting the two drives, Carvell learned that "you can make a difference," she said.

Giving blood is an easy thing for people to do; it only takes about an hour out of the day and is very rewarding, she said.

"You can save someone's family member," she said.

For more information, visit www.redcross.org.