September 25, 2012

(Canton, OH) - Incept has become the founding sponsor of a new scholarship fund for college students leaders participating in the National Cesar E. Chavez Blood Drive Challenge, a national health service learning initiative launched by the Migrant Students Foundation in 2009 to engage more U.S. Hispanic/Latino college students as blood donors. The campaign is expected to reach more than 250 college/university campuses during March 2013. It promotes four key areas; health education, health & science careers, civic engagement and saving lives! The student leaders are responsible for coordinating a campus-wide blood drive as part of a national contest representing their university. Incept is the first blood services industry provider to donate $1,000 towards the charitable fund. Other leader blood services organizations are expected to follow in Incept's lead.

"After four tireless years of grassroots development efforts, hundreds of enthusiastic volunteer participants, and more than 20,000 donors last year, we see our goals starting to materialize." Glen G. Galindo, national service learning coordinator for the event declared. "The event has just about doubled in size every year with most individual campus blood drives reaching or even surpassing their blood collection goals. This year we are focused on developing greater means to support and recognize the efforts of these motivated young leaders across the nation working diligently to grow the blood and bone marrow donor base for our nation's needs."

The campaign employs unique recruitment messaging incorporating social identity, health service learning, competition, and a call to action. In 2012, America's Blood Centers honored Migrant Students Foundation as Partner of the Year for its outstanding results engaging most blood centers in the nation addressing a widely known dilemma of not having sufficient blood donor participation within the U.S. Hispanic/Latino community even though it is the fastest-growing segment of the population. Ironically, the Latino/Hispanic community has the highest proportion of Type O blood, the most versatile type. The National Cesar E. Chavez Blood Drive Challenge appears to be having a positive impact on changing this problematic situation proving to geometrically grow the number of new and returning Latino/Hispanic donors to participate. 94% of the participating student groups have continued to participate since its inception, many setting campus record-setting blood drive outcomes. These volunteer student leaders are proving to be the catalyst to a lasting positive change views towards blood donation nationwide.

"InceptGives is founded on the principle of making an impact in the lives of others. Providing the first scholarship program for the National Cesar E. Chavez Blood Drive Challenge to encourage minority students at The Ohio State University to participate in campus blood drives is an honor", said Billie K. Johnson, Vice President, Client Services of Incept and InceptGives board member. "Donating blood is a simple, selfless act that truly saves lives, and every day the need is great. Participating students are making a difference, and our goal is to reward them for taking action and help encourage continuing education by fostering this civic responsibility."

"A true American hero, Mr. Chavez was a civil rights, WWII veteran, farm worker, and labor leader; a religious and spiritual figure; a community servant and social entrepreneur; a crusader for nonviolent social change; and an environmentalist and consumer advocate. Cesar Estrada Chavez," Senator Robert F. Kennedy noted, "was one of the heroic figures of our time." Cesar E. Chavez was born in Yuma, Arizona in 1927 and past in 1993.

About Migrant Students Foundation, Inc.

The Migrant Students Foundation, Inc. is a 501c-3 non-profit organization dedicated to serving the hundreds of thousands of existing migrant farmworker families within the U.S. today by helping them connect with scholarships, internships and service learning opportunities.  

About Incept
Incept is a Conversational MarketingTM firm that specializes in conducting productive conversations with your current and potential donors. These conversations help to strengthen your relationship with current and lapsed donors that net you more productive units at the blood center level.