Our local high school students are a valued blood donor community that accounts for approximately 15% of our annual blood collection, which means our high school donors save more than 40,000 lives each year!
It is important for the blood donation community that we instill the significant and intangible value of blood donation to a younger generation, since as a younger demographic, they are less prone to be deferred based on certain past and present travel restrictions.
It is our hope that by starting the habit of blood donation early, it will have a long-term effect on young donors, thus leading them to become life-long blood donors.
There are many ways high school students can help support blood collection other than donating blood including volunteering to coordinate a blood drive at your school or in your community, volunteering at a blood drive, or even getting friends to donate with you!
High School Honor Cord Program Information*
We believe student donors should be acknowledged for their contribution to their community.
Students who are graduating high school may apply for Honor Cord Recognition Program if they have completed one or both of the following criteria with Inova Blood Donor Services during their high school tenure:
- Donated whole blood or blood component donation a minimum of 6 times (students will need to donate at least once during each summer of their high school tenure)
OR
- Attempted to donate by completing the blood donation screening process a total of 8 times with a valid deferral after reading the FDA blood donation eligibility guidelines as provided by Inova Blood Donor Services at the time of the blood donation attempt.
Class of 2012:
Donate four times by May 1, 2012
Class of 2013 & later:
Donate six times by May 1, 2013 and each subsequent year
* This program is currently only offered in Loudoun County Public Schools. Please call
1-866-BLOODSAVES (1-866-256-6372) for more information about how to get this program into your school district.
