CTSO American Red Cross Blood Drive Nov. 18th
Launch the media gallery 1 playerMark your calendar for November 18th and help make a difference by donating blood. Plainview CTSOs of FCCLA, FFA, and Educators Rising will host a community blood drive with the American Red Cross on Wednesday, Nov. 18 from 9 am–3 pm at the Plainview High School Tartan Gym. Chapter members will have a “calling night” Monday, November 2nd to request donors to book the donation time.
“Our goal for this drive is 36 donations and to have 4 Power Reds filled. To help meet this goal, we have 48 donation times available. Hosting these blood drives provides our senior members scholarship money from the Red Cross. The total yearly units donated determines the scholarship dollar amount provided to our students who help host the drives.” stated Ronita Jacobsen, FCCLA Adviser/Educators Rising Teacher Leader. “Currently, we hold one of the largest high school blood drives in terms of unit collection. I would like to see this continue.”
For more information or to make an appointment to donate, call the High School at 402-582-4991 or sign up online at redcrossblood.org or through the Red Cross App. Save time the day of the drive with RapidPass. Complete your pre-donation reading and health history at RedCrossBlood.org/RapidPass or with the Red Cross Blood donor App before your appointment.
The American Red Cross plays a crucial role in maintaining the country's blood supply, as the nation’s single largest blood supplier, contributing around 40% of all collected blood. To meet the needs of patients at about 2,500 hospitals and transfusion centers, the Red Cross must collect more than 13,000 blood and about 3,000 platelet donations daily. Requests from hospitals currently exceed the available supply of blood, drawing down the blood supply by about 35% over the past month. Without immediate action, patients who rely on transfusions — including trauma victims, mothers in childbirth and people with sickle cell disease or cancer — face serious risk.
Several things can contribute to the Red Cross declaring a severe blood shortage. Inclement weather like snowstorms and hurricanes, and natural disasters can all decrease the amount of blood donations that are collected. Additionally, hospitals already strained by the worst flu season in nearly 20 years are now also being forced to triage critical blood products. High flu activity in nearly every state may be sidelining donors, slowing efforts to rebuild the Red Cross national blood supply. With fewer donors, even minor blood collection disruptions can significantly impact blood product availability, potentially leading to dire consequences for patients requiring emergency blood transfusions. The current hospital demand for blood outpaces incoming donations.
First-time donors and those who give regularly are critical to blood supply recovery. After all, your one blood donation can help more than one patient. To make an appointment, download the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit RedCrossBlood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).