Vitalant community blood drive brings in 59 volunteers

BEMIDJI — The Bemidji community hosted a blood drive with Vitalant on July 18 at First Lutheran Church which helped collect a total of 62 units of blood products for patients in need.

A total of 59 individuals volunteered to donate blood and 52 individuals were able to successfully donate. A total of six 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 were two people who volunteered for the first time, a release said.

In the release, Vitalant thanked Peterson, who coordinated the drive, and First Lutheran Church, which provided the location, as well as others who assisted with the drive: Kae Johnson, Clare Lyman and Barbara Horn.

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.

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.