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August is National Wellness Month, and the American Red Cross is encouraging folks to prioritize their personal health and well-being while also helping to save lives amongst an urgent need for blood donations.

“The need for Type O, O-positive and O-negative, is in an emergency need right now,” said American Red Cross Account Manager Tammy Ritchie. “Transfusions are happening when needed, but because that is the most common blood type, it is also the most needed, and in an emergency situation, that is what’s going to be transfused until we know that patient’s blood type.”

High school and college students make up 20 to 25 percent of blood donations, but as students head back to school, donating blood may not be top of mind right now, so the Red Cross is looking for others to step up to help maintain the blood supply.

“We are trying to get into our schools here in September and October to try to get things evened out, but right now, we just need to encourage anybody who’s out there who would be willing to come and donate blood,” Ritchie said. “It is a very safe and simple process, and once you do it one time, you always come up with ‘Wow, that’s not bad at all. I’ll continue to do that.’”

Special incentives are available to donors during the month of August.

“We are giving a $15 e-gift card to the merchant of their choice, as well as anyone who completes the donation will get a diabetes A1C testing that will help them to make sure they’re healthy, that their blood sugar is where they need it to be,” Ritchie said.

Visit www.redcrossblood.org and enter your zip code to find blood drives near you.

Breckinridge County Schools Superintendent Dr. Nick Carter says a productive summer has him excited for the 2025-2026 school year.

“We’ve had a great summer,” Carter said. “It’s been a busy summer, but the momentum that I feel right now in our district is just amazing. We just wrapped up our opening day breakfast ceremony at Breckinridge County High School, and the staff’s so excited and fired up to be back.”

As BCS gets ready for the first day of school on August 11, Carter is reminding area drivers to be safe around school buses. He encourages any families that have issues with their student’s bus route to inform the district.

“I’m always appreciative of our community,” Carter said. “They’re always so patient with us. It’s a big county. Our buses travel over 4,500 miles a day, and sometimes it takes a few days into the school year before we start really getting it down and making sure that we’re at those bus stops at the same time frame every morning.”

As the school year gets under way, Carter says the district is focusing on instructional efforts as students continue to grow following the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our goal is to take that even another step further and continue to work to address those areas for learning loss, where kids suffered so much learning loss, particularly mathematics during the at-home learning stage of pandemic, so we’re going to be very focused on engagement and instruction,” Carter said.

Visit the Breckinridge County Schools website for more information and follow the district’s social media channels for updates.