Northeast Texas has a critical need for blood right now, and Carter BloodCare hosted a blood drive in Longview on Friday to help.
It’s planning another drive from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today at Best Buy, 422 W. Loop 281 in Longview.
Carter BloodCare hosted a drive at Green Street Recreation Center and challenged the city’s other two recreation centers — Paula Martin Jones and Broughton — to join. Those who donated Friday got a box of Girl Scout cookies.
Donna Wagner, a blood drive consultant for Carter BloodCare, said an extreme shortage of blood in the area has caused an emergency situation.
“One of the reasons we are here is our inventory is depleted at this time,” she said. “We’re asking the public to show up at drives and to give, because of where we are. This is the worst shortage we’ve had in, like, 15 years.”
Wagner said people did not give blood during the holiday season, despite the drives Carter BloodCare hosted.
“Carter BloodCare services all the hospitals in the area, and we are in critical need,” she said. “We just have to work hard to get it back up.”
Wagner said 14 donors came to the blood drive, but only seven were able to give Friday. Donors give a little less than a pint of blood.
Walmart Supercenter is helping to boost the blood supply by hosting a blood drive from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 11 at 3801 W. Hwy 31 in the parking lot on the Carter BloodCare bus. For more information or to schedule an appointment time, contact Kelli Atchison at 903-641-0251.
H-E-B Corsicana will host its blood drive from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 17 at 201 S. 15th St. in the parking lot on the Carter BloodCare bus. For more information or to schedule an appointment time, contact Tacoloa at 903-874-4778.
Additionally, until Jan. 17, all those who are present to give blood will receive a free box of Thin Mints® Girl Scout Cookies, courtesy of Cumulus Radio Group and Girl Scouts Central Texas.
There is a new sense of urgency to support the blood supply. Blood cannot be manufactured in a lab. The lifesaving source only comes from unselfish volunteers.
For decades, those volunteers have mostly come from the World War II era and Baby Boomer generations, and these groups are dwindling. It is essential that everyone begins to view blood donation as necessary support for a robust, high-tech health care system. Blood can’t be stockpiled either. It has a shelf life and is in constant need of replenishing.
