When Chamblee’s Beta Club and the American Red Cross partnered up to have a multi-day blood drive at our school, they likely did not expect a Chamblee teacher to join in on the blood collecting.
English teacher Fred Avett set up a table outside of his third floor classroom for his own personal blood drive.
While Beta Club and the Red Cross offer gratitude, service hours, and cookies for blood donations, Avett has been offering what students might find more useful — cash.
“Why does it matter what I’m using it for?” exclaimed Avett after repeated questions from his students.
In a poll, Chamblee students overwhelmingly said they believe that service hours are more valuable than money. This perception was further evidenced by students spending their allowance as donations to earn service hours to get out of actually volunteering.
Yet, as of March 31, Avett began outpacing the Red Cross’ collection, indicating that students, despite the polling results, may actually value cash over hours.
Only time will tell whether the Red Cross or Avett will come out on top in the friendly blood drive competition. Avett declined an interview, but an investigation into the chain of custody of, and ultimate purposes for, his collected blood continues.