District Project

About

The District Project in Texas-Oklahoma for the 2026-2027 school year is Love Everybody, an initiative focused on educating clubs about eating disorders (or ED’s) & spotlighting health-based service. ED’s are the 2nd most fatal mental illness, second only to opioid use disorder, and while 30 million people in the U.S alone struggle with a diagnosed ED, 80% of those with an eating disorder will never receive treatment (from Project HEAL https://www.theprojectheal.org).

As a high-school-led organization, it’s important to recognize the impact of ED culture and promote resources for those who may be impacted. We teens know what it means to want to feel attractive or desired–and body positivity is a big part of the story. To feel confident, a person must also feel confident in who they are & what they look like. The combination of social media & internalized beauty standards can result in deadly scenarios, especially under the scope of mental illness. According to ANAD, the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, “10,200 deaths each year are the direct result of an eating disorder—that’s one death every 52 minutes.”

As experimental & FDA-approved drugs alike (such as peptides or Ozempic) target those looking to achieve weight loss, youth culture suffers. When products like this hit the market, it reinforces the idea that to be content with our appearances, we must take drastic efforts to alter them. It’s important to note that the advice of medical professionals triumphs over all when assessing the health of a person. Everyone's body is unique & while there are certainly similarities between us all, what healthy looks like is different for everyone. 

That's why Love Everybody centers its purpose around informing clubs of ED’s while making help resources more accessible. We plan on featuring organizations such as Erika's Lighthouse,a free resource for mental health education, Project HEAL, the only national organization dedicated to expanding accessibility to ED recovery & finally the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, or ANAD. 

Goals

How to Get Involved?

  • Refer to monthly information blast to spread the Love Everybody message: the first one will be released September 23rd!

  • Organize health-related service projects, for example:

  1. Host a DKMS drive 

  2. Host a blood drive

  3. Partner with a HOSA club for health-based community service hours

  4. Volunteer with Red Cross 

  5. Outreach to local hospitals for volunteer opportunities or to write letters for patients

  6. Create wellness packs to distribute

  7. Fundraise for spotlighted organizations (Erika’s Lighthouse, Project HEAL & ANAD)

DKMS

DKMS works to fight blood cancer by recruiting bone marrow donors, creating awareness, fundraising to match donor registration costs & supporting the improvement of blood cancer therapies through research. 

This year, the District Project Committee is coordinating with the nonprofit DKMS to support their organization by hosting donor drives in Texas & Oklahoma!

How Does It Work?

If you register with DKMS, you join a global database as a potential blood stem or bone marrow donor to help patients fighting blood cancer & other serious blood disorders.

In an effort to literally save lives, Key Clubbers can do several things, like: 1) raise awareness about DKMS, 2) fundraise & donate to their cause, or 3) host an event at no cost to clubs, DKMS provides everything needed to run a successful donor drive, including: 

  • materials needed 

  • promotional support

  • a dedicated drive coach to guide you through the entire process

How to Get Involved

  1. Raise awareness via club Instagram, Facebook, etc.

  2. Fundraise for DKMS & donate through their website dkms.org

  3. Host a Drive

How to Host a Drive

It’s a simple process!

  1. Find a group of students to run it & schedule a kickoff meeting so a core group of volunteers can learn about DKMS

  2. In the meeting, discuss what the drive will look like in your specific community, what’s needed to promote & run the event. This is done 3-4 weeks before the actual drive.

  3. About 1 week before the event, receive virtual volunteer training to learn how to run the drive

After you’ve found a group of students interested in the process, your team chooses a location, date & time while the DKMS representative assists you in the process by..

  • helping schedule the event

  • providing training & supplies 

It doesn’t take much effort from clubs to get involved…

The actual process of registering people to become donors is quite easy. The process adds the donor’s tissue type (HLA) to a worldwide registry. If the donor’s marker matches a patient in need, they may be called upon to donate & provide that patient with a 2nd chance at life. How it works for donors:

  1. Confirm you’re not already registered with another stem cell registry & meet eligibility requirements (be aged 18-55 & in good health)

  2. Complete the registration form (fill out info like contact details, address & health history)

  3. Apply barcode stickers from the paper onto individual swab tubes

  4. Have cheeks swabbed! Done with a provided cotton swab by scraping the inside of your cheeks for ~60 seconds or as instructed

  5. Wait for results!

We’re trying to get more people registered as potential donors to help patients fighting blood cancer & other blood disorders!

If you’re interested in hosting an event, contact ayooreeloh@gmail.com with the following information:

  1. Your email address

  2. Your school & club

  3. Your city & state

  4. Your division & region

This is to be connected with a DKMS Donor Recruitment Coordinator so you & your volunteers can work out the details of your event!

DISTRICT PROJECT INFOGRAPHIC RELEASES ON SEPTEMBER 23.

AWARD INFORMATION

To find more info, go to Resources > District Bylaws and Codes > page 7 of the PDF *listed as page 6 on Table of Contents

Requirements:

  • Presented at LEDCON!

  • Rewards the club that puts the best effort towards Love Everybody: participating in service & fundraising ideas, documenting all club progress, and informing others about ED’s and help resources

  • Submit an application via the website AT LEAST two weeks before LEDCON

  • Participants must also register for the contest through the convention registration process

  • Judged by the committee behind the District Project :) 

  • Award is for first place ONLY

  • Judging rubric is on website (“To find more info” outlines how to get there)