2 Lyndonville students get scholarships from organ donation organization

CORRECTION: This story has been updated. An earlier version stated that Lyndonville had a chapter of the Donate Life Club. Lyndonville doesn’t have that club, but does promote blood drives through the National Honor Society.

Kirsten Nice

LYNDONVILLE – Two Lyndonville Central School seniors – Leann Balcerzak and Kirsten Nice – will each receive $500 scholarships from UNYTS, Western New York’s only organ, eye, tissue and community blood center.

They are both members of the school’s National Honor Society which promotes blood drives with UNYTS.

Some schools have Donate Life Clubs that give students the opportunity to establish themselves as giving members of the community through the support of blood drives, organ donor registry efforts and through blood donation.

“I believe that it is very important to get involved and give back to the community in as many ways as possible,” Nice wrote in her scholarship application.

Nice plans to attend Niagara University and will be pursuing a degree in accounting.

Leann Balcerzak

“Numerous stories tell of the lives that have been saved thanks to the mission of UNYTS in Western New York,” Balcerzak wrote. “Even families that have lost loved ones can find solace in knowing that their loss can help save another family from experiencing the same pain through organ donation.”

Balcerzak will pursue a degree in pharmacy.

Headquartered in Buffalo and established in 1981, UNYTS is among the leading procurement organizations in the United States, and is the only organization of its kind nationwide to offer opportunities for organ, eye, tissue and blood donation.