Allendale-Fairfax High School promotes blood drive, offers donors rewards and refreshments

At Allendale-Fairfax High School, a blood drive gave Allendale County a practical way to help patients while sending $20 back to school programs for every successful donation. The event mattered well beyond campus, because hospitals depend on donated blood for surgeries, cancer treatment, trauma care and other urgent needs, and blood cannot be manufactured.

The school told donors to eat a well-balanced breakfast before arriving, plan for the 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. window and register ahead of time for faster service. Those who gave blood were offered light refreshments, a free T-shirt and a health screening, turning a routine campus event into a simple service opportunity with immediate benefits for donors and for the blood supply.

The need behind that effort is large. OneBlood says about 62% of the population is eligible to donate blood, but only about 3% actually do. The CDC says the U.S. health system needs roughly 29,000 units of red blood cells, nearly 5,000 units of platelets and 6,500 units of plasma each day. One donation can save up to three lives, and the short shelf life of blood means the supply has to be replenished constantly.

That urgency carried extra weight in South Carolina. In January 2026, the American Red Cross said the state was facing a severe blood shortage, with hospital requests exceeding available supply and blood products down by about 35% in the previous month. In that context, a drive in Allendale County was more than a school fundraiser. It was part of the statewide and national effort to keep hospitals stocked.

Allendale County Schools has already seen the payoff from its partnership with OneBlood. The district thanked OneBlood representative Artell Aiken for presenting proceeds from the district’s November blood drive and said the money would help enhance opportunities for scholars. OneBlood’s high school program provides $20 per successful donation with no cap on earnings, and scholarship or education-assistance payments are issued twice a year, in January and at the end of the school year. For a small district, that makes the blood drive a rare kind of event, one that supports patients, strengthens civic habits and puts a little more behind student opportunities at the same time.