MANKATO — In a summer of increased need for blood donations, the American Red Cross hosted its first Pride in Every Drop drive to help meet the extra demand.
The first pride-themed blood drive at Minnesota State University’s Centennial Student Union was 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday. Peter Hernandez was a collections team lead at the event, and he said that, even in the first few hours, they were seeing a lot of people come through the door.
There’s an emergency need for O-type donors, according to the Red Cross website, and volunteers at the drive noted that much of the O-type blood they were collecting was “already spoken for.”
“We’ve been fairly busy since starting,” Hernandez said. “That’s really good to see for a first-time blood drive. It’s good to see that people are showing up and coming out and supporting us.”
That community support is so important, Hernandez said, especially during summer.
“Summer months tend to be our harder months. A lot of people are on vacation or gone, and we have a lot of disasters that happen, especially with hurricane season right around the corner.”
That scarcity makes donations even more important now, and Hernandez sees the act of donating as giving a critical gift in a time of need.
“I think it’s super important that we keep in mind the amount of blood products that we have is very limited … It doesn’t last very long. It’s not something that we can create in a lab, so it’s literally giving someone the gift of life.”
Lynn Waterbury is well aware of how important that gift is. Her mother used blood donations as she battled cancer. Now, after her mom’s death, Waterbury gives as often as she can to help those going through a similar situation.
“My mom had cancer … and her white blood cell count would dip and she would need more,” Waterbury said. “After she passed, it just became important to me to make sure that other people had access to the same help.”
Waterbury’s donations are even more vital, as an O-type donor her blood is usable with anybody.
“I come as often as I can. … Every 56 days. They love to see me coming,” Waterbury said.
Another O-type donor, Dave Shearlin gives to know he’s helping those in need.
“It saves lives. It’s an easy thing to do to help people in times of need, and it’s rewarding knowing that I’m helping people,” Shearlin said.
The theming of this drive around LGBTQ pride gave it a little extra significance for Hernandez, a member of the LGBTQ community.
“This is important to me personally. I think there has been a lack of awareness, especially with our LGBTQ members, on blood donations,” Hernandez said. “It’s really important to me to be able to spread the word to people and get that out there.”
As the summer months heat up and the need for blood only increases, everyone at the drive is hopeful more people will come out to meet the increased demand.
Right now the American Red Cross is running a program where donors who give blood in June can get a $15 Amazon Gift Card, as well as plenty of free items at the drive sites. Coming up, the Red Cross will be hosting drives at MSU on June 26 and at the Blue Earth County Library on June 30. More information on those drives can be found at redcrossblood.org.