Grade 12 student Teaghan Papadopoulos and Craig Nielsen from Canadian Blood Services took the opportunity to raise awareness of a blood drive that’s taking place at the school on Tuesday, February 20 from 1pm – 7:45pm.
Teaghan was inspired to organize the blood drive as part of her Capstone Project and in memory of her late grandfather. In 2020, he was in hospital and required daily blood transfusions. This is when Teaghan realized the importance of blood donation.
“For my Capstone, I wanted to do something that helps the community out. I know the need for blood is high and have seen firsthand how important it is for people to donate blood,” said Teaghan. “I thought arranging a clinic at the school would be a great way to raise awareness of the need to give blood and make it convenient for people in Ladner to donate.”
“We typically do not host mobile blood donor clinics in high schools because of timing and schedule. However, after hearing Teaghan’s inspiring story, we felt we should make it happen. This is a great opportunity to inspire and educate young people to get involved in blood donation. Blood donor clinics are an essential part of our communities. Today’s students are the future of Canada’s lifeline,” said Craig. “Our aim is to have 81 successful blood donations at the February 20 event. Each blood donation has the potential to save up to three lives.”
Next week, Teaghan and Craig will visit grade 12 classrooms to talk to students about the blood drive. The blood clinic is open to community members aged 17 years and older.
If you are interested in donating blood, please visit www.blood.ca and search for the clinics in Delta. Around 58% of the time slots at the clinic at Delta Secondary School on February 20 are booked already, so act soon if you want to participate.
Following the clinic, as part of her Capstone project, Teaghan will prepare a slide show explaining what inspired her to organize a blood drive, how she worked with Canadian Blood Services to make the event happen and how the event went. Following graduation, Teaghan plans to study healthcare at UBC Okanagan.