Waukon community hosts another successful blood drive

The Waukon community helped to meet the rising demands of blood and blood products by sponsoring a community blood drive Wednesday, Feb. 9. Nearly 60 people registered at the blood drive with 43 units of blood being collected. Eighteen of these collections were from first time donors!

The success of the blood drive can be attributed to the many hours of planning and organization done by chairperson Beth Fitzpatrick, and sponsor group Veterans Memorial Hospital.

There is currently no substitute for blood. It cannot be manufactured or harvested. Volunteer blood donors are crucial to saving the lives of patients who require blood because of illness or disease. One in every ten people entering the hospital will require blood or blood products. Every three seconds someone in the United States needs blood.

The Blood Center of Iowa, a not-for-profit organization, provides blood and blood products to 45 hospitals in the 41 northeast Iowa counties. In order to meet the needs of Iowa hospital patients, over 1,650 blood donors need to donate each week.

The Blood Center of Iowa would like to express its appreciation to the Waukon Community and to all the donors who made a valuable contribution to the central and north Iowa volunteer blood donor program.