Student's efforts to save daughter leads to recognition and scholarship

Chandler-Gilbert Community College (CGCC) student Aimee Johnson has been a volunteer with United Blood Services and Be the Match for the past five years, raising awareness of the need for under-represented populations to become blood and bone marrow donors. Her interest stems from her 6-year-old daughter’s need to find a bone marrow match that will save her life.

Johnson, who applied and was selected for CGCC’s Student Public Policy Forum (SPPF) at the beginning of her sophomore year, selected the issue as her capstone project, a requirement of the SPPF program. Her project included coordinating a combined blood donation and bone marrow registration day at the Pecos Campus.

Her story and this effort is captured in the article “Turning a Day of Hope into a Legacy of Saving Lives” in the June issue of Chandler Lifestyle magazine (page 22).

Just prior to graduation, Johnson was selected for the Civic Leadership Medallion award by Maricopa Community College District Chancellor Rufus Glasper in recognition of her level of civic participation and leadership. She was also awarded the Maria Hesse Leadership Scholarship which will help cover expenses for the remaining semester Johnson will be at CGCC before transferring to Arizona State University, 


“As a mom and a student, I’m just one person doing what I need to do,” said Johnson. “There is no one thing I was doing that I thought was extra ordinary. However, receiving the two awards made me stop and consider that there are a lot of ‘one persons’ out there and when we put our efforts together, we can overcome anything.”