Kaywyn J. Beswick, R. N./ARC Blood Drive Coordinator, submitted this report.
This year has come in with a bang. But the first Morrison ARC blood drive went off without a hitch. I can always depend on my great sponsors, dependable volunteers, and generous blood donors to make it a success, even when I am absent for most of the day. Unbeknownst to me when the drive was scheduled last fall, I was to be torn between being present-and-accounted-for at Morrison United Methodist Church on Thursday, January 21, 2016, or I would be at the side of my BFFAA (“best friend forever and always,” for those who are not in-the-know about current abbreviations.) We have been friends for 39 years, and she was my maid-of-honor 31 years ago. She was having a cancerous tumor excised on the day of the drive. I thought long and hard and prayed about it; asked my Facebook friends for advice; contemplated where my heart wanted me to be. Needless to say, I missed seeing quite a few of our regular donors and some new-to-Morrison donors, who gave of their precious time and valuable blood products to save lives. I never feared that things would not go smoothly. I just enjoy being at the drives, visiting with everyone, and thanking our terrific participants for helping us to save lives and “pillage disease.” But my friend did well and has had a good outcome! And we exceeded the ARC goal for the day!
There were 52 wonderful people who came through our doors. Three of the gentlemen gave “double-red-cells” equivalent to two units. They were John “Jack” Bland, Jim Smith, and Duane Imel. Thank you, sirs, for being “twice-as-nice.” We distributed three pins. The recipients were Nancy Shank, receiving a 3-gallon pin; Kaywyn Beswick taking home an 8-gallon pin; John Stack, acquiring a 12-gallon pin! The names of the remaining terrific donors were Stephanie Vavra, Kent Stralow, Nancy Usterbowski, Lynn Reimer, Bill Anderson, Linda Temple, Lorna Temple, Lisa Nice, Connie Swanson-DeSpain, Mark Schuler, Chris Hawkins, Connie Helms, Jim Fisher, Millie Schaver, Kristine Honeycutt, Gwen Smith, Connie Tegeler, Evan Haag, Margaret Barr, Steve Miley, Mary Strohmayer, Marian Dykema, Joe Bielema, Callie Bush, Vicki Carroll, Carolyn Aiken, Adrienna Rombouts, Arnie Damhoff, Michelle Goossens, Brad Bielema, Kevin Larsen, Brooke Newman, Serena Lawfler, Dave Temple, and 11 other people who did not want their names printed in the local newspaper or on www.thecity1.com website. You 11 are too humble and shouldn’t feel bad about getting recognized for saving lives. I always know who doesn’t want credit published, but I am well aware of who these angels are, and I really appreciate you all!
Thank you to the Presbyterian Church Women for sponsoring the January blood drives for the last several years. Those who helped prepare and serve delicious food that day were Jane James, Judy Manchester, Lynn Knox, Deb Ziegler, Jane Franzen, Sally Hayen, Carolyn Aiken, Carol Wolf, Jan Kelly, and Marian Osborn. Thank you, Ladies!
Thanks so much to Morrison United Methodist Church for providing a great facility as our usual site. Much appreciation to the dependable Kiwanis group, for coming to unload the truck in the morning and returning in the evening to reload the truck. They were Nick Becker, Len and Laveda Ashlin, and Lawrence “Ike” Isaacsen.
Appreciation goes to my faithful volunteers who manned the different stations throughout the room for the day. They were Marcia Haag, Marian Dykema, Ron Wiersema, Maisie Renkes, Deb Wikoff, Sandy Schroeder, Bridie Bartnicki, Michelle and Vern VanDyke, Marilyn Akker, and Marilyn Habben. I am so lucky to have all of you in my life.
There were only five deferrals for the day, which is pretty phenomenal for a winter drive. And all the deferrals were for hemoglobin not being high enough. It does not mean that the people are anemic. The ARC criteria number is just on the high side of normal, so that the donating folks are not anemic when they leave. We had 17 walk-ins, which is fantastic! The walk-in bunch usually accounts for about 1/3 of my drive presenters. Thanks for stopping in.
The next ARC Blood Drive in Morrison will be Thursday, March 17, which also happens to be St. Patrick’s Day. So get your green on, and come show me your Irish spirit. All those participating in the wearing of the green will have their name placed in a drawing. Anything that you will be wearing all day long will qualify. This includes pants, shirts, socks, shoes, scarves, undershirts.
The March drive will have another new sponsor to the Morrison ARC blood drives, Kunes Country Auto Group of Morrison. Thanks for joining the ranks and purchasing nourishment/refreshments for the blood donors.
See you in March!