Secretary braves needle fear to plan Lombard blood drives

Carol Bauer’s fear of needles is far from unique.

But unlike most needle-phobes, Bauer has been planning events that involve needle pricks — Lombard’s community blood drives — for about 20 years.

Talk about overcoming a fear.

“It’s funny because I had never donated blood, and after they put me in charge of this I felt really guilty. I thought, you know, I’m trying to inspire people to donate blood and I’m not even doing this,” said Bauer, 65, of Lombard. “So I did it. And I thought, all right, this was easy enough.”

Bauer’s efforts to ignore her fear of needles and entice others to donate blood landed her recognition in the form of an award from the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago.

She received an honorable mention this spring in the Community Impact category of the Red Cross Heroes Award for the four yearly blood drives she plans, staffs and even participates in as a donor.

Longtime blood drive volunteer Winnie Lyons said Bauer deserves the recognition because of her dedication to making sure the events run smoothly and donors have a pleasant experience.

“Carol takes all the appointments and monitors her phone for them all the time,” Lyons said. “She’s very conscientious.”

Lyons said Bauer has created an environment in which donors feel comfortable enough to come back, with several becoming “regulars.”

“Some people deem this as kind of a social event for them,” Lyons said. “They talk to us and tell us everything that’s going on in their lives and I think they kind of look forward to it — besides donating the blood.”

But for the record, Bauer said she still fears needles and doesn’t enjoy the thought of being injected with a pointy object.

If anything, she said her understanding of the reasons people may be reluctant to donate — like a fear of needles, or a squeamish reaction to blood — has helped her get more donors involved.

The first drive she planned in 1990 attracted 50 donors, but recent drives have drawn as many as 200.

“It’s really tough to get people to donate blood, and I was also one of those people,” she said. “I think it’s just the anxiety, thinking about donating blood.”

Yet those thoughts remain a part of Bauer’s job as executive secretary in Lombard Village Manager David Hulseberg’s office, a job she has held for 35 of the 45 years she’s worked for Lombard.

From public works employees who post banners advertising the blood drives, to water billing employees who add a reminder to bills they send, Bauer said she gets every village department involved in planning the drives.

She also gets local entrepreneurs like Scott Martenson, owner-operator of Culver’s at 1155 S. Main St., to donate coupons or merchandise as a thank-you to donors.

Martenson said he enjoys helping with Lombard’s blood collection efforts through Culver’s “Give a Pint, Get a Pint,” program, in which blood donors are rewarded with a coupon for a free pint of custard. When customers redeem the coupons, which they do frequently, Martenson said he knows they’ve helped the community and feels he’s done the same.

And while volunteers, donors and even reward coupons may come and go, Bauer herself has become a staple at Lombard’s seasonal blood drives, held at village hall and Yorktown Center. Lyons said her steady presence brings comfort — even to the sometimes scary process of braving the needle and giving blood.

“(Donors) also enjoy that it’s the same people there every time,” Lyons said. “I think it’s easier for them to feel more at ease when they sit at the table.”