RIVERSIDE, Ohio – Stebbins High and Fairborn High are partnering again with the Mad River Lions Club to help needy families this holiday season by dedicating the 2023 “Unity in the Community” Award to “Project Share."
Stebbins and rival Fairborn High School have joined forces with Solvita (formerly Community Blood Center) and Universal 1 Credit Union in the “Unity in the Community” campaign since 2018. The rivals each host a Solvita blood drive and alternate choosing a local charity for the $1,000 Unity Award sponsored by Universal 1.
Universal 1’s Rhonda Sloan presented the $1,000 check to Project Share coordinator Carrie Lemaster, Lions Club President Bill Flaute, and Lions Club Treasurer Rick Taylor at halftime of the Dec. 1 Stebbins-Fairborn men’s basketball game.
It was Stebbins’ year to designate the award recipient and host the presentation. The Lions Club has been Stebbins’ traditional choice for the award since first joining the Unity campaign. Stebbins students are strong supporters of “Project Share,” which has been a holiday tradition for more than 50 years.
“There are 82 families we adopted this year,” said Carrie Lemaster. “The Lions provide food, and that started here at Stebbins. The students purchase gifts for children pre-school through age 15, and they do fundraisers throughout the school year.”
Project Share volunteers deliver the gifts and food items to the families on Dec. 16. and also deliver food to elderly residents of the Mad River Manor apartment complex.
Fairborn’s Feb. 23 Unity Blood Drive totaled 54 donors, 39 donations and 33 first time donors. The Stebbins March 24 Unity Blood Drive totaled 70 donors, 55 donations and 31 first time donors. Stebbins blood drive coordinator Ann Marie Boyce said the blood drive is a service project for her SkillsUSA career tech students.
The Stebbins and Fairborn Unity Blood Drives totaled 124 donors, 94 donations, and 64 first time donors, a 36% increase from 2022.
Participating in the Unity Award presentation: Stebbins High Principal Tina Simpson, Mad River Schools Superintendent Chad Wyen, Mad River Schools Board President Marilyn Steiner, Stebbins High blood drive coordinator Ann Marie Boyce, Fairborn High Principal Wayne Stegall, Fairborn Superintendent Gene Lolli, Fairborn High blood drive coordinator Amanda Spirk, Lions Club President Bill Flaute, Lions Club Treasurer Rick Taylor, Universal 1’s Rhonda Sloan, Solvita Blood Center Account Manager Donna Teuscher.
Make 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.
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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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