Kaywyn Beswick, R.N./Morrison American Red Cross Blood Drive Coordinator, submitted this report.
The weather was absolutely beautiful on Tuesday, May 22, 2014, but I think people had been waiting so long for a nice day, and our numbers showed it. It was one of the slowest blood drives that I have ever worked at, in the six years that I have been Morrison’s Coordinator. Or it could have been that there were two other blood drives that were held within the City limits earlier that same week in May. Regardless, patients who need them will receive blood products, through both Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center and the American Red Cross Heartland division.
We are all God’s children, and we share the wealth of healthy blood products and the valuable time of generous donors. We are a very kind and generous community with a big heart. I am proud to have been a Morrison resident for the last 30 years, longer than I was a born-and-bred Iowan resident,
We had 40 people present themselves at the doors to give their time and priceless blood to save lives. Six pins were distributed that day. The recipients were Callie Bush, obtaining a one-gallon pin; Janet Manchester and Connie Swanson-DeSpain both acquiring a two-gallon pin; Brad Bielema and David Temple receiving a five-gallon pin; James Huber (pictured at left) taking away a ten-gallon pin! Hats off to these faithful donors; they have given 200 units and saved 600 lives during their blood-donating careers.
We had a few “first-time” donors. I’m not sure if it was their first time giving blood or their first time donating in Morrison. They were John Leal, Kelsey Lowery, and Bryan Etter. Thank you for joining the ranks of life-savers; we hope donating blood becomes a life-long habit.
There were four double-red-cell donors that gave an equivalent of two units of packed red blood cells. They were Tom DeMay, Ron Pilgrim, Dwaine Schroeder, and another person who I did not get placed on my check-off sheet. Sorry I cannot recognize you for your efforts of giving two units. But I hope that I have your name in the list of the rest of the wonderful people who came in for the drive.
They were Kim Mulnix, Stephanie Vavra, Norine Urban, Linda Damhoff, Lynn Reimer, Peggy Hutchison, Naumie “Renee” Vanderlaan, Randy Kuehl, Ben Johnson, Chris Hawkins, Bill Kuehl, Marian Dykema, Millie Schaver, Cynthia Hoogheem, Mark Schuler, Sandra Decker, Carolyn Aiken, Tim West, Adrienna Rombouts, Arnold J. Damhoff, Brooke Newman, Bill Anderson, Evan Haag, Dick Wieneke, Craig Brady, Valerie Boles, and two other gentlemen who did not want their names in the newspaper or on thecity1.com website. (I KNOW who you are, and I APPRECIATE you and your efforts.)
Only three people were deferred that day, which is a great number. I have had as many as 16 in the wintertime. There were 12 appointment no-shows, but we understand that things come up. I had a couple messages on my machine when I got home from donors who were ill or out of town. We all have busy lives, and I am totally okay with that. I will just try you for the next blood drive! We had 11 terrific “walk-in” donors who came in without an appointment slot, which is always acceptable. Usually 1/3 of my drive participants are “walk-in” status, and that is fantastic!
I give a big shout-out to the Bethesda Lutheran Church for sponsoring the May blood drive every year. The women from BLC who helped purchase and prepare the food, served the sandwiches, drinks, and cookies, and helped man a station were Nancy Pannier, Sharon Boyles, Connie Mosher, Mona Milder, Carol Schroeder, Connie Bender, Marge Kettler, Nancy Usterbowski, Evelyn Haas, and Judy Werner.
I am so very grateful to the faithful volunteers who come to help me. They do a great job manning the different stations in the blood drive room. They were Erin Beswick, Marian Dykema, Marilyn Akker, Deb Wikoff, Marcia Haag, Arlene Merema, and Olivia Nielsen. A huge thank you goes to the Kiwanis (Nick Becker, Kris Bielema, and Lindy and Jillian Mann) for unloading and loading the truck. And, as always, thank you to United Methodist Church for generously giving us a place to call home.
I am reminded daily to have an “attitude of gratitude” and be truly thankful for all of God’s gifts that surround us everywhere. I would not want to live anywhere else on earth than our lovely town of Morrison. It gives me great joy to go into any business in our community and see several people I know on a first-name basis, whether it be the grocery store, gas station, library, hardware store, or local pharmacy. It does my heart good to hear them support each other. If they don’t have an item I am looking for, they tell me to go to another business in town and see if they may have it. I am very happy to be a cheerleader for Morrison. Even though it is not my hometown, it is the town I call home now, and which I am happy to have my three girls call their hometown.
Please join us at the next ARC blood drive in Morrison at the United Methodist Church , 200 W. Lincolnway, on Thursday, July 17, from noon until 6:00 p.m. We have a lot of fun with the ARC staff, serve good food, listen to great music, and enjoy each other’s company. Come check us out! You won’t be disappointed.