National Blood Donor Month

The Fountain Hills Noon Kiwanis and the Town of Fountain Hills are holding a blood donation drive on January 29 and 30 at the Community Center. Paul Appledorn, one of the event organizers, explains that donating blood is deemed an essential service in the pandemic. Since the Community Center is closed to activities and events, it can open all 4 ballrooms to maintain appropriate social distancing between donation stations.

 

There are several ways to sign up for this blood donation drive:

 

• Call Paul Appledorn at 480-836-8213 or email him at [email protected]
• Call co-organizer Dr. Liz Smith at 480-837-2600 or email her at [email protected]
• Sign-up online at BloodHero.com and choose “Kiwanis”.

According to the American Red Cross, January is one of the most difficult times of the year to collect enough blood donations to meet the demand. For this reason, January was designated as National Blood Donor Month in 1970 to bring awareness to the need.

 

Donating blood saves lives and is one of the most precious gifts you can give to another person. It is the gift of life. When you donate blood, you can save a life, or if your blood is separated into its red cells, platelets, and plasma, it can save several lives.

 

With the ongoing pandemic, the Red Cross reports a need of blood and platelet donors. As a way of helping current coronavirus patients in need of convalescent plasma transfusions, they are testing all blood donations for COVID-19 antibodies. And there is no deferral time for eligible donors who are vaccinated with the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine.