With spring here and summer around the corner, the Community Blood Center of the Carolinas (CBCC) is recruiting students to help kick off its Sixth Annual “Students Saving Summer Scholarship” program on June 1.

High school and college students who organize and host a successful blood drive with CBCC between June and September have the chance to earn scholarship money for their secondary education. The students with the top five producing blood drives will each receive a $1,000 scholarship from CBCC. Since 2009, CBCC has awarded over $129,500 in scholarships and grants.

“Students are vital to our donor base, making up more than 20 percent of our donors, so when summer rolls around we often feel the impact of families on vacation and high school and college blood drives on hiatus,” said Martin Grable, president and CEO of Community Blood Center of the Carolinas. “’Students Saving Summer’ is an opportunity to keep students engaged and to help us get an ‘arm’ up on our blood supply in the summer when supplies tend to drop.”

To be eligible for the scholarship, participating students must hold their blood drive between June 1 and September 30, 2014; choose a location; recruit donors; and collect a minimum of 25 units of blood. Each student will be paired up with a CBCC representative who will provide assistance with planning the blood drive. The CBCC scholarship donation must be directly transferred to the college, university or other learning establishment of each winner's choice.

For more information or to register for the “Students Saving Summer Scholarship” program, 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 22 regional hospitals, serving 16 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.