NEW DECADE OF UNITY BLOOD DRIVES BEGINS IN SUMMER OF NEED

KETTERING, Ohio – A second decade of the “Unity in the Community” campaign kicked off with the annual “Kettering Unity Blood Drive” on July 12 at Fairmont High School. It gave a needed boost to the local blood supply on the heels of the July 4^th holiday and amid a summer slump of persistent blood shortages.

Solvita entered Friday’s blood drive Friday with a critical shortage of type O and B blood and low supply of nearly all blood types. The Unity blood drive totaled 89 donors, with 76 donations and 19 first time donors.

The “Kettering Challenge” began as a friendly competition between neighboring Fairmont and Archbishop Alter High Schools to help replenish the mid-summer blood supply.

It became the Kettering Unity Blood Drive in 2015, soon after Solvita (formerly Community Blood Center) began partnering with Universal 1 Credit Union on the Unity Campaign.

Fairmont and Alter are among the eight schools who hold Unity Blood Drives during the school year and alternate choosing a local charity to receive the $1,000 Unity Award sponsored by Universal 1.

The Unity Campaign began in 2014 with rivals Miamisburg and West Carrollton High Schools. Alter and Fairmont joined a year later and were followed by Chaminade Julienne and Carroll High Schools, and Fairborn and Stebbins High Schools.

Since 2014, Unity Blood Drives have totaled 6,263 donors, 4,946 donations, and 3,450 first time donors. Students present the $1,000 Unity Awards to the recipient charity at half-time of their rival basketball games

In the past 10 years Universal 1 has sponsored $34,000 in awards to the eight participating schools.

"Next year we're going to expand and do more schools in different counties,” said U1 Engagement Partner Kristen Marshall, “So there is more to come!”

Alter High senior Mia Crinion came to Friday’s blood drive to donate and volunteer in the Donor Café. She is president of the Alter CURE Club, a cancer research advocacy and support group that sponsors the Alter blood drives.

"My main goal is to incorporate the blood drive into Key Club,” said Mia. “Key Club is a service club and I'm president as well. It's an opportunity to get a lot more people from there to come and donate.”

“My mom encouraged me because she donates all the time,” said Fairmont senior Michael Hallock, a first time donor.

Rachel Voisard first donated at Springboro High School and came to the Kettering Unity Blood drive with her mom Amy. “I am very proud of her,” said Amy. “She was terrified of needles that first time, but she was back and ready to do it again.”

Schedule an appointment to donate with Solvita (formerly Community Blood Center) on the Donor Time app, by calling (937) 461-3220, or at www.donortime.com. Walk-ins are welcome at the Solvita Dayton Center, 349 S. Main St.

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Blood donation requirements: Donors are required to provide a photo ID that includes their full name. Past Solvita donors are also asked to bring their Solvita donor ID card. Donors must be at least 17 years of age (16 years old with parental consent: form available at www.solvita.org or at the Dayton Donation Center and mobile blood drive locations), weigh a minimum of 110 pounds (you may have to weigh more depending on your height), and be in good physical health. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) changes blood donor eligibility guidelines periodically. Individuals with eligibility questions can email canidonate@solvita.org or call (937) 461-3220. Make an appointment at www.DonorTime.com.

Solvita is an independent, not-for-profit organization with the mission of taking life further and making a lasting impact on the world by providing lifesaving and life-enhancing blood products and tissue grafts.

As a regional blood center headquartered in Dayton, Ohio Solvita collects, processes, and provides blood products to partner hospitals and health centers within our 18-county service area of western Ohio and eastern Indiana and to select hospitals and blood centers outside the region.

As a global tissue center Solvita provides services to donor families, medical communities, recipients, OPOs, and community partners through recovery, processing, and distribution of tissue grafts. We are a national tissue network with locations in Dayton, Ohio (Corporate Office); Fort Worth, Texas; Memphis, Tennessee; Portland and Medford, Oregon; Toledo, Ohio; and Boise, Idaho. For more information visit www.Solvita.org.

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