Lots of Winterset citizens and organizations have already participated, as groups and as individuals, in sending aid to Texas and Florida for hurricane relief. I’m personally aware of money, food, goods, and manpower that have dispatched from our community. The need is still great, however, and there’s an opportunity this coming Tuesday to donate something extremely valuable that costs nothing but willingness and a few moments of your time.
St. Paul Lutheran Church in Winterset has been hosting a blood drive by LifeServe Blood Center every other month for many years. LifeServe is the sole provider of blood to more than 120 hospitals across Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota. And since the destruction of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma, LifeServe has sent more than 150 blood products to the Texas and Florida areas.
The reason that blood is needed in the wake of these hurricanes isn’t just because of the injuries sustained during the storms and the cleanup efforts (although many, many storm-related injuries do happen during the cleanup phase). It’s because of the disruption of normal blood collection activity that usually occurs in those areas, and the need to replenish blood supplies that have expired due to lack of refrigeration when hospitals and blood centers were shut down and/or destroyed. Many regular blood drives that were previously scheduled in those areas had to be canceled, and stores they had already accumulated were lost. The most sought-after blood type is O, which can be safely transfused into patients of most other blood types, but all donations are encouraged.
Stacy Sime, President/CEO of LifeServe Blood Center, said “LifeServe will continue to support the needs of patients in these impacted areas as much as possible. In addition to ensuring our local hospitals have an adequate blood supply, we will need to see an increase in blood donors in the coming days and weeks to meet the immediate and future needs in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma.”
To help with this effort, Jim Nelson at St. Paul Lutheran Church is hoping that the blood drive they have scheduled for this coming Tuesday, September 19th, from 1:00 to 6:30pm, will be the biggest they’ve ever had. Jim coordinates between St. Paul Lutheran Church and LifeServe Blood Center, helping to set up the church parish hall for the event and inviting church and community members to participate. That includes you.
I confirmed with Jim this morning that walk-ins are welcome at this event if you aren’t able to make an appointment in advance. All donors should be sure to bring a valid ID. If you have questions about the process of giving blood, you can find more information at www.lifeservebloodcenter.org. You can also contact Jim Nelson at 515-462-3479 or jnelson91@q.com.
St. Paul Lutheran Church is located at 1120 N. 8th Avenue, across the street from Fareway.
And you’re very likely to see friendly faces in there to give you a cookie and some juice when you’re done!
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