Village's blood drive nets 157 pints

The village of Lombard community blood drives have been helping hundreds of people over the past several years with blood donations. This year, 2011 started out with a total of 157 donors, helping more than 450 people in need.

The village of Lombard began hosting two blood drives per year in 1988. In 1999, the number of drives increased to three per year and in 2004 to the current four per year. All total, the village blood drives have collected some 8,768 pints of blood since 1988.

“I am in awe of the number of people who donate blood or volunteer to help in some way with these blood drives,” said Carol Bauer, executive coordinator for the village of Lombard and coordinator of the village blood drives for the past several years. “It is a wonderful way to reach out and help someone in need and it's something that doesn't take a lot of time or cost any money,” she added.

The village has been sponsoring four blood drives a year for the past many years and is looking to step up the blood drives to attract even more people to donate blood.

“We are always looking for new and improved ways of getting the word out about the blood drives,” Bauer added.

The village blood drives are almost always held on Wednesday afternoons. But, what if someone was willing to donate blood but is unavailable on Wednesdays? Heartland Blood Centers has satellite locations that are open for blood donors to either make an appointment or stop by whenever they have time.

If anyone is interested in volunteering to help out or would like more information about donating blood, please contact Bauer at (630) 620-5712 or by e-mail at bauerc@villageoflombard.org.