4 high school football teams win 2019 Colts Leadership Challenge

For the seventh straight summer, the Indianapolis Colts teamed with Versiti Blood Center of Indiana to challenge high school football teams across the state to help save lives by hosting local blood donation drives.

Since June, 53 teams answered the call, collecting 1,467 total blood donations across the state in the 2019 Colts Leadership Challenge.

Four schools won for holding the largest blood drives, including North Vermillion High School in Cayuga with 82 donations, Delphi Community High School in Delphi with 56 donations, Noblesville High School with 53 donations and Eastern Hancock Jr.-Sr. High School in Charlottesville with 26 donations. Noblesville also won a $2,500 equipment voucher from the Colts organization.

Players and coaches at the winning schools also visited and received VIP access to Colts Training Camp at Grand Park in Westfield this month.

The Colts Leadership Challenge, which began in 2012, activates high school football teams across the state to exercise their influence and leadership in their respective communities, host a local blood drive and encourage local supporters to give life-saving blood.

In Indiana, 560 blood donations are needed each day to meet the needs of Indiana Blood Center’s 80 partner hospitals across the state. However, donations typically drop nearly 20 percent in the summer months. The center is without blood donations received through drives at high schools and colleges; students contribute 30 percent of Indiana’s blood supply each year.

Blood donations are still needed throughout Indiana to combat remnants of a summer shortage Versiti Blood Center of Indiana has experienced since June.

Donating blood takes about an hour. Anyone age 17 or older in good health who meets eligibility requirements is encouraged to give. Parental consent is required for donors age 16 to donate blood. Donors should bring a photo ID that includes their birth date.

Appointments are encouraged but walk-ins are welcome. To schedule an appointment to donate blood, call 317-916-5150 or visit Versiti Blood Center of Indiana online.

More than 90,000 Indiana residents each year give blood through Versiti Blood Center of Indiana, formerly Indiana Blood Center, a non-profit organization founded in 1952 that operates blood donation centers in Indianapolis, Fishers, Carmel, Greenwood, Lafayette and Terre Haute. The center also operates thousands of mobile and community blood drives each year throughout the state. Versiti provides a continuous and safe supply of blood and biological services to nearly 80 Indiana hospitals and their patients and beyond.i.org/Indiana.