Congressman C.W. Bill Young to Address High School Heroes Florida Blood Services Presents 5th Annual High School Leadership ProgramST. PETERSBURG - Congressman C.W. Bill Young will give the keynote address to Tampa Bay area student blood drive organizing committee leaders at 12:15 p.m. on Friday, April 25, at the Hilton Carillon. Hundreds of student leaders will gather there from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. to participate in, "Lead the Way...Leave a Legacy," A High School Leadership Program. The Hilton Carillon is located at 950 Lake Carillon Drive in St. Petersburg. During the past 2006-2007 School Year, there were 26,487 donations given to Florida Blood Services at High School blood drives held in Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco and Pinellas counties. The total of their donations make students the largest group of blood donors overall. "Not only are these young people giving blood and saving lives here in our community," said J.B. Gaskins, FBS Vice President of Donor Systems, "they are also learning the importance of leadership skills and public service." The High School Leadership program begins for Manatee and Pinellas county student attendees at 7:20 a.m. with tours of the blood component processing and testing laboratories at Florida Blood Services (FBS) Corporate Headquarters, located at 10100 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. No. in St. Petersburg. They will then join with students from Pasco and Hillsborough counties at the Hilton Carillon for various presentations on Organizing Successful Blood Drives, as well as Blood Center career and volunteer opportunities. At the end of the day, student leaders from Hillsborough and Pasco counties will travel to FBS Corporate Headquarters for laboratory tours. In addition to Congressman C.W. Bill Young's keynote address after lunch, guest speakers in the morning include Pat Pedraja, a cancer survivor who organized Driving for Donors to recruit more than 5,000 entrants into the National Marrow Donor Program Registry earning him the CNN Heroes Award this past year. Also motivational speaker Bobby Petrocelli, author of 10 Seconds Will Change Your Life Forever, will share with youth the power of their decisions and how to build a strong foundation for their lives. Florida Blood Services provides for the blood needs of patients at 36 hospitals in Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco and Pinellas Counties, through the generosity of volunteer blood donors. Over 750 donations are required daily, due to the high quality of medical care in Tampa Bay that serves the most critically ill patients throughout west central Florida.
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