District 89 to host series of blood drives

Glen Ellyn Elementary District 89 will team up with Heartland Blood Centers and community sponsors to hold regularly scheduled blood drives every eight weeks.

The partnership was established after a successful blood drive on Dec. 16 in which more than 50 donors participated, saving more than 150 lives. The next blood drive will be from 2 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 10, at Glen Crest Middle School, 725 Sheehan Ave., Glen Ellyn.

Through the efforts of participating schools and community sponsors in District 89, Heartland expects to collect more than 400 pints of blood, saving over 1,200 lives in 2016.

"These drives will promote our social/emotional learning objectives of social awareness, including showing understanding and empathy for others, responsible decision-making and the opportunity to make ethical, constructive choices about personal and social behavior," said Sandy Lawinger, district nurse at District 89.

"We're excited about this partnership because someone needs blood every two seconds. The winter and summer months are an especially difficult time to maintain a sufficient blood supply, as many donors are vacationing or spending time with friends and family," said Amy Smith, director of recruitment for Heartland Blood Centers.

"Having scheduled drives right in these communities ensures our blood supplies stay at the levels we need."

The donation process takes about an hour and is both safe and comfortable. Blood donors need to be at least 17 years old, or 16 with written parental consent. Donors must weigh at least 110 pounds and be in general good health. Most medications are accepted. Donors must bring photo identification such as a driver's license, state ID or passport.

For information on the District 89 blood drives, visit www.ccsd89.org. Interested donors can sign up to donate blood by visiting the Heartland Blood Centers Scheduler at heartland.org to see dates, times and locations in Glen Ellyn or call (800) 786-4483.