7th annual Hodag mash blood drive sees hundreds of donors

RHINELANDER, Wis. (WJFW)- Helping others is in our nature and one of the best ways to do so is by donating blood.

“It is super important to your community members, your neighbors to have a reliable blood source,” said Tricia Voskuil the Vice President of marketing and public relations for the community blood center.

Every 2 seconds a person in the United States needs blood so it is crucial that people who are able, help by donating.

“You really never know when the need is going to be there whether there’s a traffic accident or somebody in a hospital there’s always a need for blood,” said Voskuil.

This years Hodag mash saw hundreds of past donors as well as new ones. The blood drive partnered with the Veterans groups of Rhinelander. Veteran Tony Newman says that with such a need for blood it is important that people donate to their local centers.

“If you see that there’s a blood drive going on anywhere take 10 or 20 minutes and go in there and give blood, we need to give blood,” said Newman.

Summertime is one of the most crucial times to donate due to the increase in travel and more people being active.

“Summer is a really challenging time for blood donation, people are busy with their schedule so this helps because there is also increased trauma in the summer, people are traveling so we wanna make sure there is a reliable blood supply to our local hospitals and patients,” said Voskuil.

Those that donated received snacks, a culvers coupon and a free t-shirt.