Not often are we presented with a chance to save people’s lives. But we’ll soon have one—right in the heart of our neighborhood.
The Beaumont Middle School PTA and BWNA invite you to:
A Red Cross Blood Donation Drive Sunday, November 7, 2021 10:00 a.m.- 3:00 p.m. Beaumont Middle School Cafeteria
BWNA and the Beaumont Middle School PTA are excited to co-sponsor this project with the Red Cross. Each pint of blood donated at the drive can help save up to three lives—perhaps an accident victim, a mother giving birth, a premature baby, a cancer patient, a transplant recipient, or a surgical candidate—with a positive ripple effect on all the recipients’ loved ones, a community gift beyond measure.
Blood is a precious, perishable, life-giving product that can come only from volunteer donors. Someone in the U.S. needs blood every two seconds, which means the Red Cross needs to collect more than 13,000 donations every day to help patients in the 2,500-plus U.S. hospitals and medical facilities it supplies. Eighty-four percent of those donations are given at local drives like this one.
This is a particularly critical time for blood, as fear about the COVID-19 may have kept some people from donating. With over 75 years of experience, the Red Cross is highly skilled at providing a safe environment, with all individuals at its blood drives—donors, staff, and volunteers—required to wear masks, regardless of vaccination status (likely still to be the case in November). When you show up, you’ll see extensive hygienic protocols in place, including enhanced disinfecting, hand sanitizers, gloves, and socially distanced set-up. The fact is, there are few public places where you’d be more coronavirus-safe.
On a personal note, I’ve donated blood 99 times over the years, according to Red Cross records, so I look forward to making my 100th donation at our drive. That’s nothing compared to our BWNA Treasurer, Karla Lenox, who has given blood 146 times—more than 18 gallons! We both feel blessed to make these contributions and have found the experience generally comfortable and easy with no adverse reactions. The whole process takes about an hour, you get some treats afterward, and it’s an uplifting way to become part of the lifesaving mission of the Red Cross. If you want to ask more about the process, feel free to e-mail either of us at treasurer@bwnapdx.org or president@bwnapdx.org.
Stay tuned for further details. We’re hoping to encourage donors to get pledges from friends and relatives to raise funds for the Beaumont PTA’s Family Resiliency Fund and other local worthy causes. We’re hoping to share some of the Red Cross curriculum materials with Beaumont teachers to help educate students about blood and the possibility of donating in their futures. And we’re hoping to have some other incentives for donating. Keep an eye on updates—and a way to book a donation appointment—via the “Upcoming Events” page on the BWNA website (www.bwnapdx.org), other BWNA communications venues, Beaumont PTA communications, Nextdoor, and through other media outlets.
We hope you’ll consider being a blood donor at our community drive. We’re hoping to get a minimum of 30 donors. A hundred would be better! So mark November 7 on your calendar in anticipation of rolling up a sleeve to give someone a second chance at life. As Beaumont PTA Treasurer Sandy McDaniel has said, this drive can be a “great kick-off to a season of giving.”