The report was submitted by Kaywyn J. Beswick, R.N./Morrison ARC Blood Drive Coordinator.
On Thursday, November 20, 2014, we offered the sixth and final ARC blood drive of 2014 in Morrison, IL, at Morrison United Methodist Church, 200 W. Lincolnway, from noon to 6:00 p.m. The Morrison Grand Squares Square Dancing Group was our gracious hosting sponsor. They have volunteered to sponsor the November blood drives for the last three years. We so appreciate their generosity. The members of the group helped by making sandwiches and coffee, serving food and drinks, and manning stations throughout the blood drive room. They were Ann and Butch Vanderschaaf; Janet and Jim Winslow; Marilyn and Brad Oncken; Janice and Ray Lehman; Jim Fisher. Much to our sadness, they did not perform for us this time. So if you know any of the Grand Squares, encourage them to get enough dancers together to show off their stuff at next year’s blood drive. We really enjoyed it when they danced at the November 2013 drive!
It was a day filled with sunshine that managed to heat up to 30 degrees. The ARC goal for the drive was 42 good units. There were 56 wonderful people who came through the doors, to attempt to save lives by donating their time and blood products. We ended up with 50 good units that went to Peoria, IL, which is almost 20% above goal! Pat Wagenecht would be so proud. There were three people who either had never given before or it had been quite a while since they had given with ARC, because they came up on the end-of-the-day print-out as a “new” donor. They were Dale Eizenga, Sara Medendorp, and another gentleman who did not want his name printed. We so appreciate your coming to join the ranks. I hope that you make donating blood a regular habit.
We had five double-red-cell donors who gave two units of red cells (and received everything else back.) They were Ron Pilgrim, Jim Eissens, Donald E. Smith, Harvey “Bud” Tegeler, and Joe R. Bielema. Hats off to you five gentlemen; ARC really LIKES the DRC donations. Only one pin was awarded at this drive; it went to Margaret Barr. She received a 22-gallon pin! This is not a typo. Margaret has achieved 22-gallon status, which is 176 pints given over her lifetime. These helped save 528 lives. That is phenomenal! See how easy it is to make a difference in the world?
The rest of the terrific folks who came out and attempted to make a difference were Randy Kuehl, Lorna Temple, Stephen Sippel, Jim Fisher, Norine Urban, Lynn Reimer, Mary Latwesen, Evan Haag, Linda Temple, Keith Hamstra, Chris Hawkins, Kristine Honeycutt, Steve Geerts, Marsha Geerts, Lisa Nice, Millie Schaver, Beth Wroble, Dorothy Kaufman, Connie Tegeler, Steve Miley, Deb Wikoff, Brad Bielema, Jack Bland, Tim West, Janet Manchester, David Jindrich, Pam Pickens, Adri Rombouts, Stephanie Vavra, Carolyn Aiken, Arnie Damhoff, Michele Goossens, Ryan Sutton, Nancy Shank, Brooke Newman, Callie Bush, Jennifer Phelps, Kelsey Lowry, David Temple, Kaywyn Besick, Connie Swanson-DeSpain, and seven other people, who did not want their name printed as a blood donor for one reason or another. With seven deferrals, that is about 12.5% of our total of 56 attendees. That is up a little from the expected 7 % deferral rate that ARC figures will occur. But our walk-ins made up the difference! We had 17 walk-ins who did not have appointments, but arrived ready to help those in need. That is over 30% of the donors, and that is exceptional!
My regular volunteers who so kindly gave up part of their day to help out were Marian Dykema, Marcia Haag, Deb Wikoff, Marilyn Habben, and Heather Wikoff. Thanks again for your dependability. A big shout-out to the Kiwanis for helping unload the truck; they were Nick Becker, Kris Bielema, and Lawrence “Ike” Isaacsen. Much gratitude goes to Morrison United Methodist Church, who so graciously gives us their church hall to use for the whole day.
Please join us for the first American Red Cross blood drive of 2015 to be held on Thursday, January 15, from noon to 6:00 p.m. at Morrison United Methodist Church Heritage Hall. We eat good food and play great music, making it a fun experience.
The ARC staff always compliment us on our happy drive and sharing the goodies with them. They have said that they go to some places and don’t even get spoken to; they cannot say that about Morrison area residents. Several of us know a lot of the staff on a first-name basis.
I hope to see anyone who is eligible to come in for the next drive. Bring a friend, coworker, neighbor, or your spouse. The more, the merrier!