Schools
Sympathetic Friends and Strangers Roll Up Their Sleeves to Help 10-Year-Old
When students at Bloomfield Hills Middle School learned their classmate Gavin Raab had been diagnosed with a type of leukemia that requires multiple blood transfusions, they wanted to ensure an adequate supply of blood.
When students at Bloomfield Hills Middle School learned their classmates, Gavin Raab, 10, had been diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), they wanted to help.
But how?
“Give blood,” Gavin’s family responded.
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That’s what they did Tuesday at “Giving 4 Gavin” blood drive at the school facilitated by the American Red Cross of Southeast Michigan, the Oakland Press reports. Gavin’s treatment includes chemotherapy and multiple blood transfusions, but coming up with enough blood was difficult for the hospital.
The students in Katie Walkenhorst and Joni Coleman’s fifth-grade classes put the whole thing together.
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More than 100 people were expected to come to the middle school fieldhouse and roll up their sleeves before nightfall.
Gavin and his mother, Jennifer Raab, volunteered this morning, joining the throng of students in orange T-shirts with “Gavin Strong” printed on the front.
Gavin said the blood drive was proof that “everybody cares about me.”
When you go through a tough time like this, one small part that makes it special is to see the community come together for you and your child. As soon as his class heard as he needed platelets that weren’t available, that galvanized people around him,” his mom said. “It’s a really big deal.”Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
