Saratoga News
News
Saratoga teams with the Red Cross to bring attention to need for blood
ByShannon Burkey
The Saratoga City Council declared the month of January "Volunteer Blood Donor Month" at its Jan. 3 meeting, in hopes of bringing attention to the urgent need for blood donors in the area.
"Northern California had the least amount of blood donors than anywhere else in the United States last year," said Mona Helmhold, a donor recruiter for the Northern California region of the American Red Cross. "We need to create the urgency that we need blood every day. For the two months after a disaster it's great, then it goes downhill real fast."
To try to solve the Bay Area's problem, Helmhold has been organizing ongoing blood drives in communities all over the area and hopes to begin a regular one in Saratoga.
"Our objective is to build the community blood drive. We have them all over the Bay Area, but we haven't had them in Saratoga. Hopefully that can change because it's an area we really need to build up," she said.
Helmhold's vision for Saratoga--and the model that has been working in other Bay Area cities--is to hold six drives a year. That's one every 56 days, the amount of time a person needs before donating again. By getting the communities involved and donors coming back, she believes Northern California can boost its donor numbers and keep enough blood on hand to not only supply hospitals but have extra if a disaster were to occur.
Although people come out in force when a disaster strikes, blood is always needed. Blood cells have a shelf life of only about 42 days, Helmhold said, and most of what is donated is on hospital shelves within days.
"On almost any given day, over 500 units of blood are needed in the Bay Area. Last year 121,000 units of blood were used, but only 81,000 units were from donors in the area," she said. "The 34,000-unit difference had to be imported for other parts of the country."
Last year, Helmhold tried unsuccessfully to start a blood drive program in Saratoga, but she has faith this year will be different.
"Last year there just wasn't the availability of facilities to hold them in," she said.
This year, however, she has secured space at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Westhope Presbyterian Church and Saratoga Federated Church, and all six drives are planned for the year.
"Once you do a drive and they see the response, they all want to be involved," Helmhold said of the churches. "I hope it works because it would be great to have successful drives in Saratoga."
Helmhold says she wants to focus on educating people on why they should be donating.
"On average, one in three people will need blood in their lifetime. Most people don't know that," she said. "And isn't it a wonderful thing to be able to give the gift of life?"
The first drive will take place on March 5 from 1 to 7 p.m. at Saratoga Federated Church. For more information or to make an appointment, visit www.beadonor.com.
