The Power of Life Scholarship Winner, Zoe Cadore

How can you motivate an individual or group of individuals to commit for life and become regular donors?

“It’s time,” the voice on the other end of the phone said at three o’clock in the morning. My friend Jill was about to give birth to her fist child. Jill was a young lady who graduated from high school two years ago. She was a member of my church. I met her at the hospital and waited with her mother. She appeared to be doing well when she began to bleed profusely. Her mother panicked and soon phones were ringing all over town about her dire situation.” Pray for her,” was the plea that everyone spread around town People even began to gather at each others homes to wait together. Jill developed postpartum hemorrhage. Fortunately there was blood available at the hospital where she delivered. She was administered the life saving blood and recovered from her illness. Now my friend Jill returned to school and her baby is doing fine. This was the first time that I knew someone close to me whose life was literally on the line. Because of the generosity or groups be motivated regular blood donors and Commit for life? I believe there are several ways. I think that by telling the stories of the life-saving power of blood more readily available, teens would be more apt to donate blood on a regular basis I, like many teens, like to think of myself as immortal and invincible. However, I know deep in my heart that is not true. No matter what we look like on the outside, we are all share the characteristic of being warm-blooded human beings. I think that the Internet can be a powerful tool in motivating teens to commit for Life. There has been much publicity lately about website that is used by people who are looking to harm others, particularly teenagers. But how about a website such as Commit for Life Teens? This could be a site where teens could share their stories about giving or receiving blood. Teens could submit stories or even video about their experiences and share them with teens around the world. This would allow young people to see the good that is coming from their blood donation. I live in a part of town that is considered economically depressed, or poor. Often people in these communities do not feel that they have anything to offer others, when in fact it is their heart to do so. But no matter what one’s economic status, you can donate blood, which priceless. I think it s important to reach out to communities who often feel left out when it comes to blood donation

Or anything medically related. Additionally, there are a lot of myths out about donating blood; I have even heard some people say that you can catch diseases from donating blood or that they are scared because of the pain involved. Again if teens were to be educated regarding the about blood donation, I believe more people would become involved.

Becoming involved in Commit for Life is one most rewarding experience that I had during my high school years. No matter what we look on the other side or how we think about different issues, we all have the same blood on the inside. So I say to teens everywhere when you donate blood, you are giving to a friend. Get involved. Stay involved. It’s time