Blood drive Saturday in memory of Arlington Hts. woman
Beth Klopp Lansing was married just two weeks when she diagnosed with Stage 4 ovarian cancer. One of her first thoughts, family members say, was that she no longer would be able to donate blood.
Over the next eight years, Lansing battled the disease, with everything from intense chemotherapy treatments and radiation, to alternative therapies. Through it all, she received countless pints of blood.
Lansing lost her battle with cancer on Dec. 19, 2004, when she was 31. On Saturday, on what would have been her 37th birthday, her five younger siblings and parents are hosting a blood drive in her memory.
The drive takes place from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Lifesource, 24 W. Rand Road in Arlington Heights.
"It was right around her fifth anniversary when we came up with the idea," says Lansing's sister, Anne Klopp Moersfelder of Arlington Heights.
"Beth was a nurse and a regular blood donor herself," Moersfelder added. "We thought what better way to honor her memory, and promote blood donation, than by holding a drive."
Lifesource officials say the need is great, and that blood is needed daily for surgeries and medical procedures, as well as cancer treatments and emergencies. On average, every three seconds someone needs blood, they add, and some 4.5 million Americans would die each year without life saving blood transfusions.
While 60 percent of the population is medically eligible to give blood, typically only 5 percent of the national population donates blood, according to the Lifesource Web site.
At Beth's drive, people who donate in the morning will be treated to complimentary bagels, provided by Einstein's Bagels in Palatine, while later contributors will feast on sandwiches from Chili's in Arlington Heights.
For those who cannot make it to the Arlington Heights Lifesource center, family members suggest donating at any Lifesource in memory of Beth Lansing. Mention the code 550C when making the donation.
Lansing was the oldest of the six Klopp children, whose parents, Jerry and Mary ran the Arlington Heights Youth Basketball Association for many years.
She attended St. James School and St. Viator High School, where she was among the first coed class to attend after it had merged with Sacred Heart of Mary High School in Rolling Meadows.
She graduated in 1991 before earning her nursing degree at Marquette University in 1995. While at Marquette, Lansing met her husband, Sean. The couple married a little over a year after graduation.
"It's still hard," Moersfelder says. "There's not a day that goes by when we don't think of her."