Knights collect 92 pints at blood drive

Submitted by St. Mary of Huntley Knights of Columbus

Ninety-two pints of blood were donated at the quarterly blood drive on Dec. 3 sponsored by the St. Mary of Huntley Knights of Columbus Council 11666, in cooperation with Heartland Blood Centers headquartered in Aurora and the generous participation by parishioners of St. Mary Catholic Church in Huntley and other local residents.

The blood drives sponsored in 2011 by the St. Mary of Huntley Knights of Columbus Council 11666 resulted in a total of 396 pints of blood donated by generous parishioners and local residents.

The next blood drive will be held Saturday, March 24 at St. Mary Catholic Church, 10307 Dundee Road in Huntley. For information, call (630) 584-1458.

The Knights of Columbus is an international Catholic family fraternal service organization with nearly 1.7 million members in over 13,000 local councils. Last year, Knights donated 68 million volunteer hours and $151 million in charitable and benevolent causes, sponsoring projects to benefit their church, councils, communities, families and youth.

Heartland Blood Centers is an independent blood center serving 32 hospitals in a 12-county area including Kane, McHenry, DeKalb, Will, DuPage, Cook, Grundy, Kendall, Lee, Ogle and LaSalle counties in Illinois, and Lake County in Indiana. Operating under a volunteer donor system, Heartland works toward collecting more than 160,000 units of blood annually.

Heartland Blood Centers’ first commitment is always to meet local blood needs. Hosting a drive with Heartland means that 100 percent of blood donated is returned to the communities served by Heartland. Heartland Blood Centers stands ready to assist other parts of the country during severe blood shortages, national emergencies and increased demands by the armed services by participation in a nationwide resource sharing program.

Heartland Blood Centers can be contacted at (800) 786-4483 or www.heartlandbc.org/index.