February Blood Drive Helps Many

Blood Drive

By Deaven Zimmerman

Staff Writer

Lewis and Clark Community College’s Nursing Club hosted a blood drive Thursday, February 10. The blood drive was held from 9 am to 2 pm outside of the Reid Cafeteria with the Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center briefing participants on blood donation before sending them outside to their collection bus.

People can donate blood every 56 days and O negative is the most needed blood type as it can be given to anyone. “Blood is medicine; it helps people heal,” said Matthew Frey, a Donor Relations Consultant for MVRBC, “There is a big need for blood donors especially in the winter months because of car accidents and other weather related injuries. This is very important because the blood supply is very low because of all of the winter storms that have hit.”

“I gave blood because I have plenty to spare and others might need it. That and when my aunt and I needed blood we were glad it was there,” said Miranda Gentelin, a 20 year old culinary arts major at LCCC.

“People can also donate platelets,” said Mardi Richey, a registration specialist for MVRBC, “Platelets are the clotting factor in the blood. A lot of cancer patients, burn victims and premature babies use platelet donations.”

“This is especially important because we can only keep platelets on shelves for five days,” said Frey.

“The process is similar to blood donation but takes a lot longer as a machine has to separate the platelets from the donor’s blood and plasma before returning the blood and plasma back to the donor; a process that takes roughly one and a half to two hours,” said Richey.

For more information on blood donations, how to hold a blood drive or to donate blood call the Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center at 1-618-659-0542 or check them out on the web at www.bloodcenter.org

About LC Bridge

The Bridge is the student-run newspaper of Lewis and Clark Community College in Godfrey, Illinois. We publish relevant, informative stories in a monthly print edition that focus on local events as well as global happenings. In addition, the online edition of The Bridge (thelcbridge) is updated frequently to reflect new information and more timely events.
View all posts by LC Bridge →

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.