Huntley Knights of Columbus, Heartland chalk up record blood drive
Submitted by St. Mary of Huntley KC Council 11666
A record 111 pints of blood were donated on July 7 at the quarterly blood drive 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.
Among the donors were 26 Knights and members of their families. This exceeds the previous one-drive donation record by one pint of blood set in September 2011, when 110 pints of blood were donated.
At this blood drive, eight donors made a double red cell donation. A double red cell donation is similar to a whole blood donation, except a special machine is used to allow the donor to safely donate two units of red blood cells during one donation while the donor’s plasma and platelets are returned to the donor. Red blood cells are the most frequently used blood component and are needed by almost every type of patient requiring transfusion. This donation process is as safe as whole blood donation.
This is the second of four scheduled blood drives by the St. Mary of Huntley Knights of Columbus this year. With two blood drives completed, 185 pints of blood have been donated in 2012. With a goal of exceeding 400 pints donated in 2012 at the four scheduled blood drives, the continued generous support by the Knights and their families, the parishioners and Huntley area residents will be needed in this effort to give the gift of life to those in need.
The next blood drive will be held Saturday, Sept. 8, at St. Mary Catholic Church in Huntley. For more 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 60 million volunteer hours and $143 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.