Girl Scout Educates Peers on Blood Donation and Hosts Blood Drive
Kelsi Thierman from Waterloo, Iowa, has achieved the Gold Award, the highest award a Girl Scout can earn, for educating her school on the importance of donating blood and hosting a blood drive.
"Many people don’t realize the importance of donating blood. The pints of blood that people give save numerous lives every single day. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that one pint can save up to three lives. This is a huge impact for one little pint of blood, and it is so important because lately, there has been a shortage of blood donations. When you donate blood, you give a family more time with their loved ones, whether it’s a short time or many more years.”
When it was time for Kelsi to choose a Gold Award focus, she already knew her topic—blood drives. From her research, she learned that blood drives have been struggling since the coronavirus pandemic. Kelsi discovered one of the reasons for the recent drop in blood donations was that younger donors were giving less frequently.
After learning this information, Kelsi chose to focus on educating her peers on the importance of donating blood and how to find donation sites. She put on an assembly, created a slide show, and reached out to the community.
“I found that since COVID, most schools have stopped their blood drive programs, so I made a plan. I worked with my school and the Red Cross to put on a blood drive at my school just a month after my assembly.”
Kelsi used her learned knowledge to make a difference in her school by teaching peers and school faculty and providing them with an opportunity to give blood and make a difference. She inspired a military program at her school, Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC), to sustain this project. They plan to hold a blood drive each semester and continue educating others on Kelsi's behalf throughout the community.
