St. Paul’s Episcopal Church of Quincy hosted a blood drive in partnership with non-profit blood donation center OneBlood on Sunday, January 8, giving locals the opportunity to serve their community by donating much needed blood.
From 11:30 a.m. until 4:45 p.m., the Big Red Bus, OneBlood’s mobile donation center, was parked in the lot next to St. Paul’s.
Those wishing to donate could either make an appointment ahead of time or show up during the allotted hours.
Following a brief screening to determine eligibility, a professional phlebotomist collects the blood from the donor, monitors the donor throughout the procedure, and prepares the donated blood for transport.
A pint is typically the amount of whole blood extracted from a donor, although there are other options available, such as donating plasma, platelets, and double red cells.
Once the blood has been withdrawn, the donor receives a T-shirt and a gift card as incentives.
More importantly, donors may be notified when their donated blood is used to help a patient, possibly saving a life with a pint of blood.
St. Paul’s has hosted the drive in Quincy for two full years now, with church member Jennifer Farmer serving as the organizer and liaison with OneBlood.
“We’re the largest blood drive in Gadsden County,” says Farmer. “So we have the most donors in a single spot each time we do this.”
The January 8 drive had 14 donation slots available, and 12 were filled over the course of the afternoon, with 1.625 gallons of precious blood collected.
All together, the blood drives hosted by St. Paul’s have collected 24.6 gallons of blood since they started this project two years ago.
A drive is hosted at the church every eight weeks, which is the amount of time required for a person to wait between donations.
The next donation at St. Paul’s will take place on Sunday, March 5.
For more information about blood donation, please visit OneBlood.org
Stephen Klein – Gadsden County News Service
