Donate with Heartland Blood Centers Nov. 21-27

Elijah M. has suffered from sickle-cell disease his whole life and has needed multiple transfusions.

During a sickle-cell crisis that developed into acute chest syndrome, he spent more than a week in the ICU, struggling to breathe. His condition worsening and close to being put on a ventilator, doctors performed an exchange transfusion, which saved his life.

Elijah's parents live with the fact that he could become sick at any moment, but are given peace of mind knowing that the blood they need is available from generous donors.

Patients like Elijah, those facing surgery, accident victims and patients battling cancer still need support during the holidays.

Amy Smith, director of donor recruitment at Heartland Blood Centers, says, "Oftentimes, saving a life is just a matter of making the time to come in to donate. With all of the extra activities and opportunities going on during the holidays, our calendars fill up, but if donors are willing to schedule just one hour to donate blood, it can make a huge impact on someone's life."

To show support for your gift of life, from Nov. 21-27, all successful donors will receive a special "Celebrate Life" long-sleeve T-shirt, compliments of Heartland Blood Centers.

To make it easy to schedule an appointment, Heartland Blood Centers has a list of blood drives in your area and donor center hours posted at heartlandbc.org and Facebook pages.

Make an appointment to give blood at (800) 7TO-GIVE.

Heartland Blood Centers, established in 1943, is a nonprofit, independent blood center providing service to 70-plus hospitals in 13 counties, including Kane, Kankakee, McHenry, DeKalb, Will, DuPage, Cook, Grundy, Kendall, Lee, Ogle and LaSalle in Illinois and Lake County in Indiana.

Heartland operates under a volunteer donor system, with the goal of collecting more than 200,000 units of blood annually.

Heartland's first commitment is to meet local blood needs and, as participants in a nationwide resource sharing program, it stands ready to assist other parts of the country during severe blood shortages, national emergencies and increased demands by the armed services.

For information about Heartland, or how to donate blood, visit www.heartlandbc.org or call (800) 7-TO-GIVE.

Follow www.facebook.com/HeartlandBloodCenter/ or twitter.com/don8bld.