The Community Blood Center of the Carolinas (CBCC) today announced the winners of its Fifth Annual “Students Saving Summer” scholarship program.

Throughout the summer, area high school and college students partner with CBCC to hold summertime blood drives to help meet the needs of local patients. Students Saving Summer saw a 20-percent increase over last year’s program, touching thousands of lives.

The following students had the top five producing blood drives of the summer and will receive a $1,000 scholarship from CBCC:

First Place – Michele Kirchner of Matthews

Michele is a nursing student at CPCC Levine in Matthews.

Second Place – Alyssa Staton and Hannah Beyer of Kannapolis

Hannah is a freshman at Rowan Cabarrus Community College studying criminal justice. Alyssa is a freshman at UNC-Charlotte. They partnered together to host the blood drive and will split the $1,000 scholarship.

Third Place – Melissa Griffin and Crystal McCall of Stanly

Melissa and Crystal are seniors at West Stanly High School in Albemarle and are interested in becoming nurses. They too will split the $1,000 scholarship.

Fourth Place – Joshua Tucker of Greenville

Joshua is currently in the Physician Assistant program at Gardner-Webb University.

Fifth Place – Maggie Thomas of Shelby

Maggie is a senior at Crest High School in Shelby and is planning to attend Appalachian State and major in nursing to become a medical missionary.

“Congratulations to this year’s ‘Students Saving Summer’ winners for their commitment to the patients of our community; saving local lives,” said Martin Grable, president and CEO of Community Blood Center of the Carolinas. “Students make up more than 20 percent of our donor base. So, summer is often a critical time for our blood supply since families vacation and high school and college blood drives are on hiatus until the new school year. We greatly appreciate all the students who donated blood over the summer to support our local patients.”

In addition to the “Students Saving Summer” scholarship program, CBCC offers other scholarship and grant opportunities for local students and schools. Since 2009, CBCC has awarded more than $172,750 in scholarships and grants. For more information, contact Kim Jones at 704-972-4727 or at KLJones@cbcc.us.

About Community Blood Center of the Carolinas

The Community Blood Center of the Carolinas (CBCC) is a non-profit community-based blood center and the primary blood supplier to 27 regional hospitals, serving 19 North Carolina and three South Carolina counties. CBCC focuses exclusively on gathering red blood cells, platelets and plasma from volunteer donors to save local lives – every drop of blood collected remains here to help people in the Carolinas. CBCC is a member of America’s Blood Centers, North America’s largest network of community-based, independent blood centers providing more than 50% of the nation’s blood supply.

For more information on hosting a blood drive or donating blood in your area, visit www.cbcc.us or call 704-972-4700.

Follow the Community Blood Center of the Carolinas on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/BloodCenter and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/CBCCarolinas.