Kaywyn J. Beswick, R. N./ Morrison ARC Blood Drive Coordinator, submitted this report and photograph.
Tuesday, November 21, 2013, was a day of beautiful weather, probably one of the last of the year, which is probably one reason why we didn’t have an abundance of donors. But we did meet the American Red Cross goal of 44 “units out the door.” We had 45 wonderful people come into the drive to give up an hour of their time to donate blood, in order to save lives. Jim Fisher of Morrison is shown preparing to make a live-saving donation.
We had two people give double-red-cells that are equivalent to two units; they were David Abele and Harvey Tegeler. Good job, guys; you don’t have to come see me as often. Double-red-cell donors can only donate every 16 weeks, or three times a year, instead of the usual every-eight-weeks whole blood donors.
We had 11 walk-ins, which is a tremendous number, representing 25% of our total participant count.
Other donors that came in were Michael Beswick, Renee Vanderlaan, Keith Wiersema, Cheryl Geiger, Lynn Reimer, Bev Hufman, Mary Pilgrim, Ron Pilgrim, Randy Kuehl, Bill Kuehl, Chris Hawkins, Marian Dykema, Lorna Temple, Jim Fisher, Mark Schuler, Stephanie, Vavra, Evan Haag, Norine Urban, Pam Pickens, Connie Tegeler, Marsha Geerts, Steve Geerts, Sally Ward, Kaywyn Beswick, David Gindrich, Adrienna Rombouts, Kristine Honeycutt, Julie Damhoff, Carolyn Aiken, Lori Ploenzke, Tim West, Angela Wiersema, Connie Swanson-DeSpain, Janet Manchester, Millie Schaver, Brooke Newman, Dick Wieneke, Joe R. Bielema, David Temple, Bill Anderson, and two persons who did not want their names printed in the local newspaper or on thecity1.com website.
Thank you to the Kiwanis for reliably helping unload the truck and reloading it when the drive was over. Appreciation is extended to the faithful United Methodist Church for the steadfast use of their church hall. Gratitude is given to the Morrison Grand Squares Square Dancing group for being the sponsor for the drive, providing sandwiches, drinks, and cookies for the donors to enjoy after they donate. They baked cookies, prepared and served the lunch, and manned several of the stations throughout the drive room. The Grand Squares assisting were Ann and Butch Vanderschaaf, Jackie Lewis, Janice and Ray Lehman, Janet and Jim Winslow, Marilyn and Brad Onken, Janet and Jim Fisher, and Noreen and Steve Hoffman. Other volunteers who aided in manning stations were Marian Dykema and Marilyn Habben.
Please join us for the next American Red Cross Blood Drive in Morrison on Thursday, January 23, 2014. Note the day of the week is changed from the usual day, as I could not get the day off from my employer, because of the call schedule.
The date in March will also be a Thursday, because the drives need to be at least 56 days apart. Bring a spouse, a friend, a coworker, or a stranger off the street!