These are dire times when it comes to blood donation.
The Red Cross says the drop in donor turnout affects their ability to collect enough blood products to meet hospital demand.
With this in mind, the YMCA of Southern West Virginia wanted to kick off the new year by partnering with the Red Cross for National Blood Donor Day.
Mat Bishop has been donating blood since he was younger, just because he wanted to and the catalyst was when his nephew was born.
“He had to have a blood transfusion and blood was very in short supply, in short demand so they actually had to airlift him somewhere else so he could have that lifesaving measure,” said Bishop, the Y’s chief operating officer. “And from that day on I’ve donated.”
She volunteers at the children’s hospital in Morgantown and Laci Sears knows there’s always a need for blood so she wants to help in any way she can.
“I’ve been donating every eight weeks since three years ago,” said Sears, of Morgantown. “It feels really good knowing that this is gonna help someone else.”
This is the perfect way for Mat to give back.
“And the YMCA likes to give back to the community and we thought what a great way for being a community-driven organization to host this and have people come in,” Bishop said.
“If they are not a member of the YMCA they can join and have their capital improvement fee waived — so it’s up to a $40 savings.”
According to Laci, she gets a message every time she donates to let her know the hospital where her blood is getting sent to.
The Red Cross says your donated blood goes through an amazing journey before it reaches a recipient.
“So it’s really rewarding knowing that it actually is helping someone,” she said.
