Student-organized blood drives have collected 2,635 units of blood since 2020, the most in Metro Detroit, nonprofit says
WATERFORD TOWNSHIP — Our Lady of the Lakes School in Waterford Township was recognized by the Michigan Region of the American Red Cross as a top-performing blood drive partner, collecting more than 2,600 units of blood in the last five years.
Leonard Rezmierski, a board member of the Southeast Michigan Chapter of the American Red Cross, presented the school with a commemorative plaque following the school Mass on March 5, in recognition of the 2,635 units of blood that have been collected in the 20 blood drives the school organized from 2020 to 2025.
“We have been feeling the need for blood tremendously in our country right now, with disasters all over the place — fires in California, floods and hurricanes in Florida, even a tornado here in Michigan not quite a year ago — so our need is really quite high,” Rezmierski said after Mass. “As we examine what we are doing with churches, schools, cooperatives, etc., we are trying to elevate the issue and request for blood.”
Rezmierski said the Red Cross has developed a five-year analysis of its blood drive locations, and, through that analysis, identified Our Lady of the Lakes Parish and School as the top blood donor in Metro Detroit.
Rezmierski presented the plaque to Our Lady of the Lakes principal Robert Jansen and Fr. Scott Thibodeau, alongside Our Lady of the Lakes seniors Thomas Herrington and Haily Hutsell, who organized this year’s blood drives.
“One of the most beautiful aspects of this recognition is that our blood drives have truly been a student-driven endeavor,” Jansen said.
Fr. Thibodeau added the achievement is “a testament to the ‘Laker’ spirit of service that defines our parish and school,” referencing the school’s mascot.
Herrington and Hutsell were selected by last year’s two organizers, Diesel Rodriguez and Ashlee Leddy, to work with the local Red Cross chapter to set the dates, arrange the space at the parish, and get the word out about the need for blood donors.
“St. Joseph’s Hall (the parish social hall) is a large space with a lot of events here, and recruiting donors is the big thing,” Herrington told Detroit Catholic. “We have to find those people and get them to come to the church to give blood.”
Shannon Walters, account manager for the American Red Cross, said every two minutes, another American is in need of blood, so every unit of blood donated is critical.
“We are grateful to Our Lady of the Lakes for their longtime partnership and incredible success hosting Red Cross blood drives,” Walters said, noting Our Lady of the Lakes has been organizing blood drives for at least 10 years. “This school consistently excels at coordinating their blood drives and meeting and exceeding their collection goal with a steady turnout of generous blood donors.”
Schools such as Our Lady of the Lakes are valuable partners for the American Red Cross in organizing blood drives, as they provide space and a natural base of volunteers to organize drives, Walters added.
“Schools are very important to the American Red Cross; they provide 20% of our blood supply, so when schools are out, or school gets canceled, we endure quite a bit of loss,” Walters said. “That’s why we developed scholarship programs to encourage schools to run (drives) during the summer months.”
Walters said Michigan needs about 1,400 pints of blood every day, so having schools like Our Lady of the Lakes encourage blood donations is critical.
“Everybody can give one pint of blood every 56 days,” Walter said. “With only 38% of the population donating, a lot of it is because they have never been asked. With our scholarship programs, students are not only ambassadors in the community, but they ask those donors to help the blood supply.”
Our Lady of the Lakes will host its next blood drive Thursday, March 26. The church is located at 5481 Dixie Highway, Waterford Township.
