You're someone's type...and they need you.
Hey Hey Party People! As a lot of you know I've been working for a couple of months now on a community blood drive and I'm so honored that Sunset Tanning Salon and Seagull Fencing in Pasadena have graciously allowed me to use their facilities for the April 11th blood drive through Anne Arundel Medical Center/Luminis Health but, imagine my excitement when after confirming ONE location, Lighthouse Church of Glen Burnie responded back and offered up their lot for the mobile donation center as well so, we have TWO opportunities for you to give back in the month of April.
April 11th, 2022 - Seagull Fencing and Sunset Tanning Salon (please park in the Seagull Fencing lot) - SIGN UP HERE
April 13th, 2022 - Lighthouse Church Glen Burnie Campus - SIGN UP HERE
Did you know that the Red Cross declared the first EVER blood crisis amid the Omicron variant and even went as far as having the NFL try and step up by offering a chance to win tickets to the Superbowl for their donations?
In January 2022 the Red Cross stated this, “While some types of medical care can wait, others can’t,” said Dr. Pampee Young, chief medical officer of the Red Cross. “Hospitals are still seeing accident victims, cancer patients, those with blood disorders like sickle cell disease, and individuals who are seriously ill who all need blood transfusions to live even as Omicron cases surge across the country. We’re doing everything we can to increase blood donations to ensure every patient can receive medical treatments without delay, but we cannot do it without more donors. We need the help of the American people.
The Personal Impact of Blood Shortages Kristen Mill of Spring Grove, Illinois, suffers from ongoing health problems caused by a tick bite in 2008. Her body doesn’t produce enough hemoglobin to carry oxygen in her blood, and when her hemoglobin levels drop, blood transfusions are essential for her to survive. She has needed weekly transfusions to treat this condition for much of the summer and fall of 2021.
On a recent visit to the hospital for a transfusion, she was told the hospital had no blood that matched her blood type, and she would have to wait until the right match became available.
“The hospital came to me, and they apologized, and they said, ‘We’re so sorry, our blood bank is depleted to the point where we don’t have anyone that matches with you,’” said Kristen. “It’s very scary, especially if you don’t know if the blood is coming, because this is something that you need to live.”
Unfortunately, Kristen has had to wait for blood on multiple occasions in recent weeks. “It has become quite common that I would have to wait two or three days for blood. Then my condition would get worse, and I’d need to be hospitalized while waiting for blood. It usually took two days, sometimes three days, which is a long time when you are waiting for something that could save your life,” said Kristen.
Kristen worries that the next time she needs blood, it may not arrive in time to keep her alive. After seeing firsthand what a blood shortage means, she has become an advocate for blood donation.
“I don’t want this to happen to other people,” Kristen said. “There is nothing greater you can give someone than the gift of life. To have people donating lifesaving blood is just incredible and essential.”'
Giving back is so important to me, right up there with the bonds that I have built throughout the years and some of those relationships involve individuals who have been directly impacted by some sort of critical need for blood platelets or a transfusion. This is the first time I've personally organized a mobile blood drive (another shoutout to my girl Jo for the idea!) and I if you know anything about me, I like to make everything in life a little more meaningful so I not only planned them in honor of my daughter and son's girlfriends birthdays BUT, I'd really love to make BOTH blood drives in loving memory of a sweet little guy I never got the privilege of meeting but, I was blessed to have met his family, adore his parents AND his brothers, one plays football with my son and the other I got to take his senior pictures YEARS ago. I don't know Cole's full story but, I do know that blood transfusions were needed and that his gorgeous mama Alayna had mentioned in a post on social media that "his puffy cheeks would get pink again & the bruises would disappear, those days after a transfusion were always easier."
Your blood donations will directly impact the community by stocking Anne Arundel Medical Center with much needed blood supply for the men, women and children in need. I urge you to please try and come out to donate and make life easier for someone struggling with something that most of us do not have to experience. Do it for children like Cole so, that they don't' have to hear the words "we don't have a match for you".
I just want to sincerely thank everyone who plans on making an appointment in advance for dedicating a small slot of time from your day to support something I'm really passionate about.
I should be around the event the day of the 11th, I took off for the occasion and I hope to see you there!
xoxo,
