Cornwall students create commercial to support blood donation

A group of students from East Wiltshire Intermediate School has created a commercial to encourage more Islanders to donate blood.

Sophie MacDonald said when she started the project in Grade 9, blood services was one of the first causes that came to mind.

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"When we had to pick a project to support and spread awareness about, we thought that this would be the perfect opportunity and it would be a really good cause, because obviously blood donation is something serious that everyone needs to take part in if they're eligible to do so," MacDonald said.

PSB initiative

The project is part of the public school board's Destination Imagination initiative. Students were asked to identify a problem in their community and come up with an action plan to solve it. 

Blood Services PEI had just come out of a two-year labour dispute, which saw the number of blood donors on the Island fall. 

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MacDonald and her peers decided it was the perfect time to figure out how to encourage people to donate.  

"There is no medicine that can replace blood donation, so it's essential that everyone should be doing this if they can," MacDonald said. 

Creating a commercial

The students went into their community to bring people to the clinic, all the while asking everyone they met to fill out surveys about why they chose to donate, or why they didn't.

They spent months going over their research and used it as inspiration to create a commercial that would raise awareness about donating blood, and dispel some of the fears people had about doing it. 

"We thought that would be the best way to broadcast it, because in the end its not really about us — it's about getting our word out there that you should donate blood," said Charley Russell, a Grade 9 student.

The students worked together to write a script, story-board the commercial and create props. They received equipment donations from the Island Media Co-op and learned how to shoot and edit the commercial, and even starred in it themselves. 

Blood Services Canada said the work they've done has earned them recognition as the youngest and the most successful volunteer group in the Maritimes. 

MacDonald and her classmates will be showcasing their work alongside other student groups who completed similar projects in a few weeks. 

She also said they will all be returning to the blood clinic as volunteers this summer. 

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