The reports were submitted by Kaywyn J. Beswick, R.N./Morrison ARC Blood Drive Coordinator.
It has been a whirlwind of a summer! I cannot believe how fast it has gone; neither can Lucy Van Pelt. Don’t we all know someone like her? This report is way overdue. I had computer issues early this summer. My department at work has gotten extremely busy this summer, with four more surgeons beginning to operate on patients, and it has been no rest for the weary, to say the least. Regardless of my neglectfulness to the “writing of the report,” I finally have time to sit down to do May and July reports. Bear with the lengthiness of this article; I have two drives to summarize.
The next American Red Cross blood drive in Morrison will be held on Thursday, September 21, 2017, from noon to 6:00 p.m., at Morrison United Methodist Church. Our sponsor will be Wa-Tan-Ye . Bring a spouse, friend, coworker, or neighbor. See you all there. If you cannot give blood, call and volunteer. I can always use some more regulars. ARC is offering a free haircut to those who donate in September. Enter your email on their website and request the coupon. Click here to view Sports Clips Haircuts, 4760 Elmore Avenue, Davenport, IA, across from Best Buy and next to Men’s Warehouse.
The May American Red Cross blood drive took place on Thursday, May 18, at MUMC. We are so very grateful to MUMC for providing us with the perfect place to hold the blood drives; with plenty of space, a great kitchen, abundant parking, and several restroom facilities. The sponsor was Bethesda Lutheran Church, as they have always hosted the May drives, since I became the ARC Coordinator in May 2008. Food purchasers, preparers, servers, and set-up/clean-up committee members were Nancy Pannier, Andrea Dalton, Mona Milder, Nancy Usterbowski, Monica Anderson, Olivia Nielsen, and Kate Rambo. The BLC group always does a great job. Volunteers who helped in the drive room were Marian Dykema, Marcia Haag, Deb Wikoff, Maisie Renkes, Sandy Schroeder, Bridie Bartnicke, Marilyn Akker, and Carole Patton. A special shout-out to these ladies. I was not present for most of the drive because of a cousin’s funeral in Rockford. They held down the fort and kept the drive running smoothly in my absence.
Four wonderful gentlemen gave Double-Red-Cells equaling two units: Larry Oudekerk, Keith Wiersema, Vern Latwesen, and Ron Shank. Hats off to these guys for giving eight units between the four of them, in just one afternoon.
The rest of the terrific donors were Kaywyn Beswick, Kim Mulnix, Renee Vanderlaan, Nancy Carlson, Randy Kuehl, Stephanie Vavra, Louis Albrecht, Joyce Hamstra, Keith Hamstra, Vicki Carroll, Jack Bland, Steve Geerts, Jim Prombo, Krisitine Honeycutt, Evan Haag, Connie Tegeler, Dick Wieneke, Judy McCulloh, Debbie Wilson, Cindy Hoogheem, Tim West, Jill Vegter, Brad Bielema, Carolyn Aiken, Kari Forster, Nancy Shank, Joe R. Bielema, Pam Shank, Connie Swanson-DeSpain, Marian Dykema, and ten others who did not want their names published in the newspaper or on www.thecity1.com website as a blood donor.
Thank you to the ever-faithful Kiwanis for unloading the truck before the drive and returning in the evening to reload the truck. Your dependability is unfailing.
Total numbers for the May drive were down from our usual participants; probably because there were two other blood drives in town that same week. No worries; Morrison always has generous people who donate blood to help those in need, whether it be with ARC or Mississippi Valley. I am so very proud of our great community of caring folks. You should be proud, too!
July’s ARC blood drive was a hot one. So hot that the City Hall time/temperature display was not working, and I think on purpose, due to the humid conditions. But inside MUMC, the air conditioning was working fine. The date on the calendar was the Thursday, July 20, and the thermostat was set for a cool 70 degrees. Our July sponsor has always been the Kiwanis Club of Morrison. They have hosted the July drives since May of 2008, when I took over being the Coordinator after the late, great Pat Wagenecht. She was quite the mentor, neighbor, and friend, and a “hard act to follow.”
The ARC goal was 55 “good units,” and they left with 56 bags!
Members of the Kiwanis who helped unload the truck in the morning and reload it in the evening were Nick Becker, Kenny Huizenga, Ron Finnicum, and Deb Steifel. Kiwanians that helped purchase, prepare, and serve the sandwiches, fruit, snacks, treats, and beverages were Kris Bielema, Betty Jo Schmitt, Deb Stiefel, Brooke Lalley (Deb’s granddaughter), Len and Leveda Ashlin, Denis Bramm, and Esther Huizenga. The Kiwanis folks were Ron Finnicum and Denis Bramm. Thanks again to MUMC for giving us a home to host the ARC blood drives; your graciousness is appreciated. My regular volunteers who “answer the call” to help were Marcia Haag, Marian Dykema, Deb Wikoff, Bridie Bartnicke, Sandy Schroeder, and Marilyn Habben; they seldom say no.
There were two pins awarded in July: a 17-gallon pin for Don E. Smith, and a 19-gallon pin for John Stack! I did not even have the pins in possession to give to them; they had to be special-ordered. The ARC only carries pins up to 12 gallons, so my donor representative, Janet Jarvis, ordered them; they will be mailed to their homes. What a great problem to have! These two men have donated 285 units. Do not tell me that donating blood does not make a difference. Close to 300 lives have been changed, by just two people!
There were seven Double-Red-Cell donors. They were Thomas Rosenbaum, Don E. Smith, Louis Albrecht, Dwaine Schroeder, Harvey Tegeler, Mike Bray, and one gentleman who did not want his name printed in the newspaper or on thecity1.com website.
These fantastic people came in and gave their time and live-saving blood products: Kim Mulnix, Stephanie Vavra, Bill Anderson, Brad Bielema, Renee Vanderlaan, Janet Manchester, Lynn Reimer, Randy Kuehl, Vicki Carroll, Lisa Nice, Jim Prombo, Joe R. Bielema, Chris Hawkins, Scott Vance, Carolyn Aiken, Evan Haag, Dick Wieneke, Kristine Honeycutt, Margaret Barr, Connie Tegeler, Debbie Wilson, Judy McCulloh, Cindy Hoogheem, Beth Wroble, Marian Dykema, Jennifer Waters, Carol Kallenbach, Susan Noble, Mary Black, Tim West, Julie Brown, Laura Smith, Pamela Shank, Kari Forster, Nancy Shank, Susan Gomez, Kelcie Lowery, Kaywyn Beswick, and 13 people who did not want their names published as blood donors on thecity1.com or in the local newspaper.
Six people were deferred, some for slow heart rate, some for fast heart rate, some for elevated blood pressure, and some for lower-end-normal hemoglobin. The ARC acceptance number for hemoglobin is fairly high, so that the donor does not leave the drive anemic. Their hemoglobin number will be still in the normal range after donating. If you are deferred for hemoglobin it does not mean that you are anemic; it just means that you are on the “low end of normal.” I advise those who get deferred (myself included) to take an over-the-counter iron pill daily for 3-to-4 days before donating. ARC actually recommends Flintstones chewable vitamins with iron. We also have a list of iron-rich foods to indulge in a few days before donating. It can also be found on the ARC website, at www.giveblood.org, or you can call the ARC at 1-800-RED-CROSS or 1-800-733-2767 with any questions. Some foods and drinks that can decrease iron absorption are dairy products, such as milk and cheese, chocolate, coffee, tea, and red wine. Check out the website for interesting, short, easy-to-read articles.