School: Maryvale High School (Buffalo, New York)
Sponsor: Cassandra Sheedy, Cheektowaga FSU Chick-fil-A

 

Project overview: A community-wide blood drive event impacting over 60 lives.

 

Saving Lives, Building Leaders

Chick-fil-A Leader Academy™ at Maryvale High in Buffalo partnered with Connect Life, their local transplant and blood donor center, to organize a blood drive in the school auditorium. The students organized the event, and as a result were taught the importance of volunteerism and giving back to the community. The students gained the invaluable experience of coordinating not only their school but also leaders in the community, including the Cheektowaga Chamber of Commerce. Despite facing a variety of hurdles in planning the event, the students still managed to make the event fun by including the Chick-fil-A cow mascot for the event. The result was an impressive 22 pints of blood donated which will be enough to save 66 lives.

 

The Power of Experience and Pride

As part of the planning process, the students visited Connect Life’s facility, where they witnessed the entire blood processing journey. This inspiring and eye-opening experience deepened the students’ understanding of the impact of their efforts. As a result, the students made sure to create a welcoming atmosphere at the event to allow the donors to experience the students’ gratitude throughout the process. Connect Life also provides donors the awareness of knowing there their donation will be used to save someone’s life.

Students and teachers alike felt immense pride at their accomplishment through this blood drive. Keeping the good of the community as their goal allowed this Chick-fil-A Leader group to maintain unity and persevere amidst planning obstacles. Maryvale’s Impact Project is a testament to the value of students learning to serve their community with the hope of this continuing throughout their lives as the future leaders of tomorrow.