Vitalant community blood drive brings in 34 volunteers

BEMIDJI — The Bemidji community hosted a blood drive with Vitalant on Sept. 19 at Mt. Zion Church which helped collect a total of 37 units of blood products for patients in need.

A total of 34 individuals volunteered to donate blood and 29 individuals were able to successfully donate. A total of seven donors also came forward to donate Power Red Cells, which collects two units of red blood cells while returning platelets, plasma and a saline solution back to the donor. There was one person who volunteered for the first time, a release said.

In the release, Vitalant thanked Mt. Zion Church, which sponsored the drive and provided the location, as well as the donors.

Donors can make appointments to give blood at

donors.vitalant.org

or by calling (877) 25-VITAL. With each donation, donors receive a free total cholesterol test and earn reward points.

The next Vitalant blood drive is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 1.

Blood donation takes about an hour from check-in to refreshments, while the blood draw typically takes less than 10 minutes. Donors can save about 20 minutes by completing their health history questionnaire the day they donate on

www.vitalant.org/health.