CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — “Giving so that others may live," is the mission of the Coastal Bend Blood Center. It’s a major responsibility, but hundreds of area high school students have answered that call.
That call to action was on full display Tuesday morning at the Mansion Royal in Corpus Christi, host to the center's annual High School Heroes Awards Luncheon, which finally made its full return since 2019.
"30 percent of our blood supply comes from high school students, so it’s extremely vital for us and we absolutely and are so incredibly thankful for each and everyone of them," said Ashley Ramirez, head of public relations for the center. "To be able to recognize them and let them know how greatly they’re appreciated and to give them that recognition that they deserve."
According to the center, this year 10,583 units of life-saving blood was collected on behalf of area high schools for patients in the Coastal Bend. For Ramirez, the term 'heroes' couldn't be more fitting.
"That's exactly what they are, each of the individuals here, high school students, chair people, nurses are exactly that: heroes in our community," Ramirez said.
"They take that time to volunteer, to go above and beyond to make sure we obtain as much blood donations for the blood center for our community, and that’s what it’s all about. So, any opportunity we have to give back and to recognize them, we’re gonna do so."
One of those young heroes recognized Tuesday was Avica Burrill, a senior at Port Aransas High School. Burrill was awarded the Outstanding Hero Award for her involvement with her school's NHS chapter, organizing blood drives and recruiting fellow students to volunteer.
"It was a privilege to be able to partake in this and it was really cool to see all of these other high schools and see lots of other kids have the same sort of goals to help change the community for the better and it’s very inspiring," Burrill said.
She plans to attend the University of Texas at Austin to study international relations. She shared that the experience in service and leadership she's gained from Port Aransas High School is something she is looking forward to taking with her in the new and exciting chapter of her life.
"That valuation of service over self is very important to me," Burrill said.
This year's winner by division are as follows:
Division 1A:
1st place: Tuloso-Midway Academic Career Center
2nd place: Benavides Secondary
3rd place: Por Vida Academy
Honorable Mention: Annapolis Christian Academy
Division 2A:
1st place: Port Aransas
2nd place: Freer
3rd place: Incarnate Word Academy
Honorable Mention: Agua Dulce
Division 3A:
1st place: Orange Grove
2nd place: George West
3rd place: Bishop
Honorable Mention: Mathis
Division 4A:
1st place: Sinton
2nd place: Alice
3rd place: Rockport-Fulton
Honorable Mention: Calallen
Division 5A
1st place: Veterans Memorial
2nd place: Gregory-Portland
3rd place: Flour Bluff
Honorable Mention: Foy H. Moody
Individual Awards
Top Recruiter: Emily Thamaravelil (GP-ISD)
Top Donor: Michael Nesbitt (GP-ISD)
Laptop Winner: Gavin Henkaus (Rockport-Fulton)
Rising Star: School of Science & Technology
Charles Gubitosi Outstanding High School Hero Awards:
1A Division: Marina Moreno (Tuloso-Midway Academic Career Center)
2A Division: Avica Burrill (Port Aransas High School)
3A Division: Norysah Tanguma (San Diego High School)
4A Division: Kelsey Polasek & Jamie Whitley (Rockport-Fulton)
5A Division: Rebecca Tietze (Gregory-Portland)
High School Nurses of the Year: Deeann Elizondo & Whitney Rodriguez (Gregory-Portland)
Chairperson of the Year: Lacy McCombs (Ingleside)
TV-3 congratulates all of this year's award recipients.