Elk Grove Village holds community blood drive

Meeting room B, buried in the lower lever of the Charles J. Zettek Municipal Complex in Elk Grove Village, was chock full of busy people scurrying about Saturday morning.

The room normally reserved for meetings had been transformed into a mobile blood donation center.

Phlebotomist Claudia Illescas said that typically at this location they hope to get 45 donations. By 10:30 Saturday morning they had already had more than 40 donations and still had another hour and a half left before closing.

"I think it's more important now than ever before, because of COVID-19," said Elk Grove Village Trustee Jeff Franke as he sat patiently donating blood. "See? It's painless."

Franke says he usually tries to donate when the village has its quarterly drives.

According to the Red Cross website, there is a critical need for blood right now. You can find a donation site buy going to the Red Cross website.