Vitalant, a nonprofit organization that collects blood from volunteer donors and provides blood, blood products and services across the United States, has been busy in the lakes area of late, holding successful blood drives at area businesses, schools and other locations.
Walmart hosted a blood drive with Vitalant on Oct. 29 at its Detroit Lakes location, which helped collect a total of 17 units of blood products for patients in need.
Fourteen individuals volunteered to donate blood and all were were able to successfully donate at the Walmart event. A total of three donors also came forward to donate power red cells, for which Vitalant collects two units of red blood cells from each donor while returning their platelets and plasma back to them, along with a saline solution. The Walmart drive was coordinated by Heather Maanum.
Both SJE Rhombus Controls and Dynamic Homes sponsored blood drives on Wednesday, Oct. 20, with a total of 12 individuals volunteering to supply blood at SJE Rhombus and another 14 individuals volunteering at Dynamic Homes. Thirteen units of blood were collected from SJE and 15 from Dynamic Homes.
An additional two donors at SJE and three at Dynamic Homes also came forward to donate power red cell. Two first-time donors were also reported, one for each drive.
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On-site coordinators for the Oct. 20 drives were Diane Sazama at SJE Rhombus and Liz Holzer at Dynamic Homes.
Another Vitalant blood drive was hosted by the Becker County Courthouse in Detroit Lakes on Tuesday, Oct. 19, collecting a total of 29 units of blood products for patients in need.
There were 29 individuals who volunteered to donate blood during this drive, with one more also coming forward to donate power red cells. Sandy Gunderson served as on-site coordinator for the drive, with assistance from Jean Clark.
Minnesota State Community & Technical College hosted a blood drive for Vitalant on Wednesday, Oct. 13 at its Detroit Lakes campus.
A total of 31 individuals volunteered and 25 individuals were able to donate blood at the M State drive, enabling Vitalant to collect 29 units of blood products. Six donors also came forward to donate power red cells, and there were three first-time donors as well. Angie Mohr served as coordinator, with assistance from Ariana Messerschmidt on the day of the drive.
Detroit Lakes' Foltz Trucking, Inc., hosted a blood drive for Vitalant on Friday, Sept. 24, with a total of 19 individuals volunteering and 17 being able to donate blood, enabling Vitalant to collect 20 units of blood products for patients in need. Three donors also stepped forward to donate power red cells. Katie Poppler served as coordinator.
Future drives are planned at Foltz Trucking on Friday, Nov. 19 and at Dynamic Homes on Monday, Dec. 22. Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Detroit Lakes will also be hosting a Vitalant blood drive on Dec. 11.
Blood is only useable for 42 days, so a constant supply is always needed, no matter the season. Each day in this region to keep up with patient needs including preemies, surgery patients, accident victims and those battling cancer, 250 volunteer blood donors are needed daily.
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Donors can make a convenient appointment to give blood online at donors.vitalant.org or by phone at 877-25-VITAL. With each donation, donors receive a free total cholesterol test and earn reward points.
Blood donation takes about an hour from check-in to refreshments, with the blood draw itself typically taking less than 10 minutes. Donors can save about 20 minutes by completing their Health History Questionnaire on the day they donate at www.vitalant.org/health .
