Passionate about shining a light on the need for blood donation in our community, Riley Roduner, a student at Wessington Springs High School, organized a blood drive for her senior project with the goal of introducing new donors to giving blood.
“There is no substitute for blood and there is always a shortage,” explained Roduner. “My goal with this project was to encourage new donors to blood donation and let them know that the process usually takes less than an hour but can make a huge difference in the life of the recipient.”
During the summer of 2022, Roduner held a scholarship blood drive with LifeServe Blood Center. The experience had a profound impact on her and she wanted to continue the efforts of increasing the local blood supply.
“I really enjoyed it and that through hosting a blood drive, I was helping a lot of people,” Roduner reflected. “The biggest goal and stretch for me was to implement marketing strategies in order to reach the greatest amount of new donors — I wanted to reach high school students.”
In addition to creating and hanging up flyers, Roduner visited with students in person and had a representative from LifeServe Blood Center talk to the student body about donating blood. She also advertised in the True Dakotan and on social media. Additionally, Roduner had the help of longtime blood donor Gloria Vavra, who served as the mentor for her senior project.
“All in all we had seven new donors at my blood drive and eight new donors scheduled for the next one,” she said. “What the blood centers say is true, blood is needed every day of the year — and when you give, others live.”
