Dell Rapids, SD – Avera Dells Area Health Center and Community Blood Bank will partner up to save lives at a special summer community blood drive event held on Tuesday, July 5 from 7:00 to 11:00 am and 12:30 to 2:30 pm. The public will have an opportunity to donate blood to help local patients in the hospital during the month of July. All blood donations will go directly to saving patients’ lives in Dell Rapids. All who donate will receive a special All American blood drive t-shirt.
Every three seconds someone needs blood, and the only way to ensure that those needs are met is to rely on volunteer donors to donate blood. The need for local blood donors is immense. The Community Blood Bank supplies over 550 units of blood each week to people in the region. Among those who benefit from donated blood are trauma and burn victims, cancer patients and persons undergoing surgery.
“As we enter the summer months, it becomes extremely difficult to maintain an adequate blood supply for our community,” states Ken Versteeg, Executive Director, Community Blood Bank. “With many summer activities and vacations occurring, people forget to give blood throughout the summer. Summer is traditionally a time when there is a higher occurrence of accidents and injury as people travel on roadways and water ways, thus increasing the need for blood.”
Donors must be at least 17 years old (16 years old with a signed parent consent form found at www.cbblifeblood.org), weigh 110 lbs or more and be in good general health the day of the donation. Please bring an I.D. It is recommended that a person eat and drink plenty of fluid prior to donating. For more information log onto www.cbblifeblood.org or call Avera Dells Area Health Center at 428-5431.
Community Blood Banks is a nonprofit, cooperative of Sanford Medical Center and Avera McKennan Hospital and the sole blood provider to the Sioux Empire. Community Blood Bank is not associated with any other blood bank organizations.