The American Red Cross has issued an urgent call for blood donations, saying the current blood supply has dropped critically low throughout the Southeast. Donors of all blood types are welcome, but there is an urgent need for type O negative, B negative and A negative blood donors. The storms that swept through Monroe last night also created a need for help from the citizens on Union County.
Telephone interview with Kathy Bragg of the Union County Red Cross.
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Please donate to the Union County Red Cross. Union County Red Cross Website.
Three public blood drives are scheduled this month in Union County:
August 10 – Mineral Springs United Methodist Church, 5915 Old Waxhaw Monroe Road from 2:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
August 12 – Midway Baptist Church, 4615 Olive Branch Road in Wingate from 3 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
August 29 – Southbrook Church, 5607 Weddington Road in Weddington from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Two industries, IMO Pump and Allvac, also are holding employee-only drives at their facilities.
In summer, blood shortages often occur because individual donations decrease, along with the number of organizations that can sponsor drives. The absence of school blood drives also contributes to this annual drop in donations; school drives account for approximately 20 percent of donations.
“Collecting enough blood to meet hospitals’ needs during the summer is always a challenge,”
says Joyce Brendel of the Red Cross Carolinas Blood Services Region. “This is especially true this year as many donors are also dealing with business closings, layoffs and other issues relating to our current economy. Unfortunately, the need for blood doesn’t go away.”
Brendel added, “Patients are dependent on the Red Cross and volunteer blood donors to make sure blood is available to patients in need. Without an immediate response from generous people in the community, our ability to provide the needed blood will be limited.”
Every two seconds, someone in this country needs blood. That need for blood grows each year faster than the number of individuals who donate. Currently, 38 percent of the population is eligible to donate, but only a fraction of those eligible actually do. In the Carolinas Blood Services Region, the Red Cross must collect 1,600 units of blood each weekday to meet the needs of hospital patients.
There is no substitute for blood, and the only source is from volunteer donors. Eligible blood donors must be at least 17 years of age, weigh at least 110 pounds and be in general good health. Donors with type O (positive and negative), B negative and A negative blood can consider an automated red cell donation, a process in which only red cells are donated.
For more information or to schedule an appointment to donate, call (704) 283-7402.
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