Editor’s note: The Editor’s photo was taken a few years ago at Morrison United Methodist Church, showing Power Red donors.
This report was submitted by Kaywyn J. Beswick, R.N./Morrison ARC Program Blood Leader.
Thursday, May 19, 2022, was the latest Community Blood Drive. I greatly appreciate that St. Mary Church, 13320 Garden Plain Road, Morrison, IL, allows us to use their church hall and parking lot to host our events. They have for the last two years. Thank you, Father Slawomir “Slawek” Zimodro, and St. Mary Catholic Church parishioners. Special gratitude to my dear friends, the “Morrison Methodist 3 Musketeers,” Carole Patton, Jean Tichler, and Mary Vos. You ladies are always so accommodating and dependable. I am indebted to you for coming to my rescue when the scheduled sponsor backed out, just a few days prior to the Blood Drive, by purchasing and preparing the sandwiches for the donors. You are truly faithful and obedient to my calls. Thank you again for helping on such short notice. Thankful recognition goes to the reliable Knights of Columbus who are steadfast. They clear out the church hall the evening before and return to put everything back in its place after the Blood Drive. They were Jim Fisher and Mark Kaiser.
I am always obliged to have Pat Pendgraft, the certified ARC volunteer, who goes above and beyond at every drive, jumping into each manned station as needed. A shout-out goes to Mary Latwesen, who not only gave blood, she also came helped escort and schedule appointments for the next event. You both truly exemplify the meaning of “good and faithful servants.”
I am not sure what our “ARC goal” ended up being. There were initially 59 time slots for donors, but that number was increased to 71 by early May, and up to 83 by the week of the Blood Drive. That is an increase in appointment times by over 40%! When the goal was 59, our product goal was 61 “good units.” I assume that with 83 time slots available, the goal was probably in the 70s, which we did not obtain. We had 52 terrific people come in to help save lives.
The ARC sends three double-red-cell machines to every one of my drives, because we have so many devoted Power Red donors. They donate two units of packed RBCs every 112 days. They come to the drives only three times a year, instead of the usual six times, that a regular whole blood donor comes. This means that 18 appointment slots are specifically for double red contributors. That calculates to about one-fourth of our time slots, or 20-25% of our drive participants. I was only able to get 11 of the 18 DRC slots filled, and over 90% of them came in.
Only three donors were deferred (only 5.75%) which is excellent; the ARC plans for a 7-8% deferral rate. To those who were deferred, or to other donors who tend to get deferred on a regular basis, the ARC recommends taking an over-the-counter Flintstones chewable vitamin with extra iron in it, for the few days before donating. This is usually enough to boost your hemoglobin enough to give blood. The ARC wants your iron count on the high side, so that you do not leave being anemic.) Also, eating foods high in iron for several days before coming helps. The American Red Cross website has a link to “Foods High in Iron Content.” Go to the website www.redcross.org for more information.
The generous whole blood donors who came through our doors to give were Stephanie Vavra, Lyle Bush, Richard Swanson, Julie Damhoff, Bryan Vogel, Mary Latwesen, Randy Kuehl, Sarah Bull, Kent Stralow, Nancy Bartels, Cindy Hoogheem, Deb Adolph, Mark Schuler, Chris Hawkins, Beth Wroble, Kaywyn Beswick, Pam Shank, Connie Tegeler, Bill Kuehl, Martha Kophamer, Kevin Medenblik, Keith Wiersema, Keith Lilly, Dave Temple, Tim West, Lisa Nice, Caleb Fuller, Wil Wildman, Carolyn Aiken, Joan Vander Bleek, Julie Brown, and five other gentlemen who did not want their names published.
There were seven pin milestones. Dave Boyles (and another gentleman who did not want his name published) acquired one-gallon pins; Ashley Salazar earned a three-gallon pin; Barb Imel and Connie Tegeler each will receive four-gallon pins; Evan Davis gained a six-gallon pin; Joe R. Bielema attained 18-gallon pin status! I am so very proud of all of you. Between the seven of you, approximately 846 lives have been positively impacted by all your donations. That is exceptional!
Ten double-red-cell/Power Red donors were Evan Davis, Tom DeMay, Dave Boyles, Jim Fisher, Harvey Tegeler, Terry Jones, Duane Imel, Kelly Smith, Mitchell Milnes, and Douglas “DJ” Fulton. These ten people donated 20 units of packed RBCs, which is the most-commonly-transfused blood product. Whole blood products are divided into three parts; a unit of RBCs, a unit of Platelets, and a unit of Plasma, and they can be given to three different patients. Our drive had nine no-shows, but included four walk-ins, which ARC staff are now allowing–if they have staff to be able to accommodate the walk-in. All walk-ins were allowed to donate.
RapidPass was utilized by 34 of the 52 presenting donors, which is 65%. The ARC is hoping to increase the number of RapidPass users, to improve their efficiency and decrease a donor’s drive time by up to 10-15 minutes.
If you want to make a positive difference, consider becoming a regular blood donor. It’s easy, rewarding, and a great way to give back to your community.
The next Morrison Community Blood Drive will be held on Thursday, July 21, from noon to 6:00 p.m., at St. Mary Church. You can text, call, or message me for an appointment time, or go online and schedule your own. If you schedule your own appointment, make sure it is a correct slot for your blood type. Only O+, O-, A-, B-, and AB- blood types can give Power Red Cells. Anyone can donate whole blood, provided you pass the brief history and medical exam.
If you have questions, feel free to contact me. Have a blessed summer. Contact me at 815-718-5117 (text or voicemail), or Kaywyn Jean Beswick on Facebook/ Messenger.