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Schools

Oakville High School Blood Drive Benefits SSM Health Care

On March 1 and 2, Oakville High School's "Leadership" class and Student Council sponsored a blood drive held in the school's gymnasium.

At 3 p.m. on March 2, school hours had ended, but the parking lot at was quite full. Following a day of student blood donations on March 1, community members were arriving to donate and do their part to help others in need.

As the drive began, all of the donating stations filled quickly. A full staff of school volunteers, Leadership class members and personnel from Mississippi Valley National Blood center worked in the gym.

“Everything is going very well this year. The Leadership class has been very active in organizing this drive and several other major projects," Allison O'Brien, a senior at Oakville and a student in the Leadership class, said. "We were involved in both the Coaches vs. Cancer campaign and the Funderwear Drive to collect underwear and socks for St. Patrick’s Center. Right now we are working on building an outdoor classroom over by the baseball field in memory of Oakville chemistry teacher Ken Kolwyck, who died last year.”

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O'Brien and class members, Tamaja Gholston, Julie Skaggs, Cameron Bradshaw, Audra Plassmeyer and Brett Carrigan were busily distributing treats to the donors.  The selection was not the usual plain cookie and milk reward. There was plenty of fresh fruit, donated by Sam’s Club, and a large, very inviting, variety of packaged goodies furnished by both staff and students. All were donating their time to the cause.

The faculty sponsor, Angelia Moore, was hard at work, making sure that the event ran smoothly.  

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“The staff and students have done a great job of serving the community with this project,” Moore said.

This was the second day of the drive. Day 1, held March 1, was sponsored by Student Council. This drive collected a record breaking 169 units of blood. 

"Terry Dieters, OHS alum and blood drive coordinator for the Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Bank, said that the student/staff blood drive on March 1 is the largest single-day blood drive that MVRB does," Jennifer Fruhwirth, Student Council Adviser, said. "StuCo has done this blood drive for the last 7 years and have broken their goal/record every year."

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