For fifth grade students at Western Salisbury Elementary School, learning about blood and its importance came to life Feb. 8 as they organized and instituted a blood drive in the parking lot of the school as part of their science unit on body systems.

Miller-Keystone Blood Center brought the Wayne Leibensperger Jr. Memorial Bloodmobile to the parking lot of the school which brought additional meaning to the blood drive.

Wayne Leibensperger Jr. was a 2011 graduate of Salisbury High School who donated faithfully every eight weeks. He died in a car accident in 2014 and his family has continued his mission of sharing the importance of giving blood.

The bloodmobile is a mobile blood donation center equipped with everything necessary for the blood donation process. The Leibensperger family was tireless in their efforts to raise money for this bloodmobile.

According to officials at Miller-Keystone Blood Center, the addition of this vehicle allows the center to increase blood collections with the potential of impacting an additional 10,000 lives each year.

The WSE students wanted to contribute to that goal; in their calculations, if 16 units of blood were collected Feb. 8, 48 lives could be saved.

Miller-Keystone Blood Center reported there were 16 registered blood donors with 13 units collected.

According to teacher Kathy DeBona, the students were pleased with the results and commended the “superheros” who came to the bloodmobile to give at a “moment’s notice.”

Although the students were not permitted into the bloodmobile due to regulations, DeBona said Hershey Bars were offered to donors with a thank-you note made by one of the students.

In addition, the gym of the school was open for visitors during the blood drive and donors and several families attended to view the projects made by the students to show their understanding of blood in the human body and its importance.

“The kids enjoyed the BODY SYSTEMS and the blood drive,” DeBona said. “This was my way of helping other people and educating children at the same time.”

This science unit is part of teacher Kathy DeBona’s participation in the district’s #YourSalisbury goal. Librarian Barbara Jaindl worked as a teammate on the project and supplied resources for the students’ written reports.