Wynford community pays tribute to Keris Dilgard Riebel with blood drive

The Wynford community paid tribute to Wynford High School graduate Keris Dilgard Riebel at a special blood drive on Friday in the school gymnasium.

Riebel, 22, Marion, was killed Jan. 1 in an attack at her workplace in Upper Sandusky. According to police, officers were dispatched to the Dollar Tree store where Riebel worked after receiving a report that a male subject was "waving a machete around" and had struck a female employee, who turned out to be Riebel.

Her cousin, Mackenzie Tarbert, was one of the many blood donors at Wynford High.

"I'm here for her — because she would do it, so I wanted to do it too," said the high school senior, who helped promote the event.

She said the way the community has reached out in Riebel's memory has meant a lot.

"She was really, really faithful," Mackenzie said of her cousin. "She loved to read her Bible; she loved to encourage other people to get close to Christ. So she was just, like the nicest person you ever could have come in contact with. She was amazing."

Mackenzie's parents, Ashley and Raymond Greenick, also donated blood.

"It was nice that a lot of people signed up to honor her memory," Ashley Greenick said.

Teacher Krista Richmond said she donated in part because she's the adviser for the school's National Honor Society, which hosted the event. But Riebel was her best friend's neice, and Richmond had her as a student.

"I usually try to give blood, but I just felt this was a special reason to go ahead and give blood, since we're doing it in memory of her," Richmond said.

Max Miller, American Red Cross account manager for Crawford and Richland counties, said the day's schedule was "pretty close to being full, and that's always a good sign."

Through March 31, blood donors will receive a $10 prepaid Visa card by email, he said For information on donating, visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).

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This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Wynford pays tribute to Keris Dilgard Riebel with blood drive