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Donors earn chance to win $1,000
shopping spree
Each time a blood donor gives the gift of life, he or she
gets something back – the knowledge that in taking the
time to donate one unit of blood, they may have saved up to
three lives. From Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, blood and platelet donors
will get even more back when they are entered to win a $1,000
gift card courtesy of the American Red Cross.
The “Give a Little, Buy a Lot!” campaign is aimed
at increasing blood and platelet donations during a time of
year when distractions due to school schedules and the holidays
often lead to a dangerous dip in the available blood supply.
Anyone who gives blood or platelets through the Red Cross during
the promotion period will be automatically entered to win one
of three gift cards.
“This is a critical time of year for blood and platelet
donations,” said Robert F. Fechner, chief executive officer
of the American Red Cross Carolinas Blood Services Region. “In
addition to the gifts they’ll give to family and friends
this holiday season, we’re asking people to also take the
time to give the gift of life. This shopping card is one way
we can show generous donors how much we appreciate that gift.”
The American Red Cross Carolinas Blood Services Region provides
life-saving blood to 103 hospitals and needs approximately 1,600
people to give blood and platelets each weekday to meet hospital
demand. Accident victims, as well as patients with cancer, sickle
cell disease, blood disorders, and other illnesses, receive
life-saving transfusions every day. There is no substitute for
blood, and volunteer donors are the only source.
Blood can be safely donated every 56 days. Platelets can be
given safely every two weeks, up to 24 times a year. Most healthy
people age 17 and older, who weigh at least 110 pounds, are
eligible to donate blood and platelets. For more information
or to schedule an appointment to donate, call the Watagua County
Red Cross at (828) 264-8226 or visit redcrossblood.org.
October Blood Drives
The Watauga County Chapter of the American Red Cross will hold
the following blood drives in the coming weeks:
• Friday, Oct. 10 from 2 to 6 p.m. Come and enjoy Shannon’s
pecan pies in the conference room at Best Western, the drive’s
sponsor. For more information, contact Shannon at (828) 406-2472.
• Monday, Oct.13 from 1:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Bare Essentials
Natural Market, at 273 Boone Heights Drive, Boone. For more
information, contact the customer service desk at (828) 262-5592
or misternatural@bellsouth.net.
• Friday, Oct. 24 from 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Support the
HOSA Club Members, in loving memory of Erin Elizabeth Issacs,
at Watauga High School. For more information, contact Regina
Alford at (828) 262-1611.
• Monday, Oct. 27 from 2 to 6:30 p.m. Support the Missions
Team at Boone United Methodist Church, the drive’s sponsor.
For more information contact the church at (828) 264-6090.
For more information about the Watauga County Chapter of the
American Red Cross, contact executive director Sonny Sweet at
(828) 264-8226 or Lu Johnson, senior donor recruitment representative
(Carolina Blood Services Region), at (800) 234-1646.
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