Montreal, Quebec (October 2008) – The results of a new study show that Community Blood Services’ innovative blood donor recruitment program, KidzKare™ – which mobilizes elementary and middle school students to encourage adults to give blood -- is working.

The findings, announced at the Annual AABB Meeting & TXPO in Montreal October 4-7, show that KidzKare significantly increased donor recruitment rates for adults between the ages of 35 and 54 – a demographic that experts regard as critical to avoiding severe blood shortages in the near future.1 The study found that the first seven KidzKare™ blood drives registered 179 donors, increasing the percentage of new donors from 35 percent to 67 percent in men and women ages 35-44 and from 17 percent to 36 percent in ages 45-54.

“We are extremely pleased that KidzKare™ has produced such outstanding results,” said Patricia Cascino, manager of Donor Recruitment, KidzKare co-creator and lead study author. “Our program is addressing the serious gap in adult donors under age 50, while educating children on the importance of giving blood as a civic responsibility.”

Recent studies point to a significant downturn in blood donors age 25 to 49 between 1996 and 2005. First-time donations from men age 25 to 49 dropped 10 percent, while the number of male and female repeat donors age 25 to 39 declined more than 40 percent during the period. Experts predict a serious depletion of the blood supply nationally without new recruitment strategies that encourage this generation of adults to become regular blood donors. ¹

“KidzKare ™ works because it is targeted to the adults that are the parents and the teachers of today’s elementary and middle school students,” said Christian Todd, Community Blood Services New York manager, who helped create the program and co-authored the study along with Lisa Brosnan, community account manager. “Parents and other adults in a child’s universe will respond positively when they see young people enthusiastically doing something so worthwhile and important for others.”

How KidzKare ™ Works

Under the direction of Community Blood Services and the supervision of a school nurse, librarian or teacher, students help coordinate a community blood drive, distributing posters and fliers to promote the event, encouraging school staff, parents, relatives and neighbors to donate blood, and helping on-site during the donor event. Blood center staff teaches students about the blood collection process, the importance of donating regularly when they can (typically around age 17 in most states) and the need to maintain a diverse and ample blood supply. For every unit of blood collected, a new book is presented to each donor. They in turn donate the book to the school library or media center. Since January 2008, the KidzKare ™ program has collected 311 units and registered 394 donors in 14 blood drives. Anyone interested in scheduling a KidzKare ™ blood drive for the 2008-2009 school year can call Lisa Brosnan at 201-705-1651.

¹Zou S, Musavi F, Notari EP et al. Changing age distribution of the blood donor population in the United States. Transfusion. 2008;48:251-257