School District 146’s commitment to the community has been going strong. The D146 Gives committee held a blood drive on on Friday, February 21. Brenda Cook school psychologist at CMS, took the lead on this project, and partnered with a local blood collection center.
Mrs. Cook said, “When the committee first came up with the blood drive as a project idea I was very excited. I offered to head that committee without hesitation. I was very ill over the summer and had to receive seven units, so coordinating a District-wide blood drive was an obvious and rewarding choice for me. I viewed it as a way of giving back.”
She explained that the blood drive took a lot of planning. First was choosing the right blood collection center. She said, “I made some calls and really liked what Heartland Blood Center was offering. Heartland was helpful answering questions, creating the posters and flyers, and giving us blood donation information to send out to staff. They were extremely impressed that D146 was using technology to assist with the organization of the drive, which helped to cut down paperwork.”
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She continued, “Heartland Blood Center showed a strong interest in our D146 drive. They said there is a current blood shortage right now. Many blood drives this winter had to be cancelled due to the extreme weather conditions. Heartland reps said negative blood type is in extreme demand. They want that information to be known, but were happy to receive all donations.”
Next big item on the list was where to hold the blood drive. Mrs. Cook thought that having sites at both ends of the District would be most convenient to the staff.
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Mrs. Cook approached Central Middle School Principal Randy Fortin. “He was more than happy to help in any way possible. Principal Fortin ended up working with his staff and they arranged for the blood drive to take place inside the school.”
Fierke Education Center was the other location chosen. Mrs. Cook contacted Principal Mark French about the opportunity to help and was given an excited “thumbs up” to the project.
With locations now secured Mrs. Cook said, “We then got the word out to our D146 employees about the February project and we ended up with nearly 100 people who volunteered to donate. That’s a huge number. It actually got so large that I had to rework the schedules and the locations for the blood draws. My co-workers, once again, showed their selflessness. Heartland was hoping to get 21 donors at each site. The employees at District 146 blew that number out of the water!”
Mrs. Cook said, “District staff, Administrators, and Board have been really supportive to this D146 Gives blood drive project. The feedback I have received so far has been very positive.” She wanted to acknowledge some people in the District that made this project not only possible, but the outright success that it was. Mrs. Cook gives special thanks to D146 Superintendent Dr. Jeff Stawick, CMS Principal Randy Fortin, Fierke Principal Mark French, Bret Pigniatello, Karen Vandewiel, Patti Montagano, Angie Mulligan, Katie Muchna, Jen Rohloff, Robin Kasper, Karen Ogean, Amy Sandow, Terri Stahulak and the custodial crew at both CMS and Fierke. “The kindness from School District 146 employees never ceases to amaze me. I feel so proud to be part of this D146 Family.”
