Premont ISD tops Coastal Bend blood drive with 298 units donated

At Premont ISD, 298 donated units meant more than a first-place banner at the Coastal Bend Blood Drive banquet. In a small Jim Wells County district, that total represented a real supply of blood for patients across the Coastal Bend and a clear sign that students, staff and families had made service part of campus life.

Premont’s finish came in a program that now includes 54 Coastal Bend high schools taking part in school-year blood drives. The Coastal Bend Blood Center says those drives give student hosts a practical way to earn volunteer service hours, while also feeding a system that depends heavily on campus participation. The center says blood mobiles collect 90% of the blood donated in the community, and that the mobiles must bring in more than 100 units a day to keep up with demand.

The scale of that effort is already showing up in the numbers. KIII 3News reported that school-based drives contributed more than 13,000 units during the current school year, accounting for more than 30% of all donations in the Coastal Bend. Against that backdrop, Premont’s 298 units stood out as more than a competition total. It was a measurable contribution from a district that helped turn school pride into a public-health benefit.

The recognition also fits into the blood center’s longer-term push to build repeat donors. Its Red Cord Program honors graduating seniors at partner high schools who give at least three whole blood donations, two double-red donations or a combination of the two during the High School Challenge period, which ran from May 11, 2025, through May 9, 2026. That makes the school drive model more than a one-day event. It is part of a pipeline that can carry student donors from campus competitions into adult civic habits.

Premont ISD has also been recognized before for backing the effort. The blood center previously thanked the district publicly after another blood drive and said Premont provided lunch for phlebotomists. That kind of steady relationship helps explain how a rural district in Jim Wells County could rise to the top of a regional competition and send a meaningful supply of lifesaving blood into local hospitals and clinics.