Need for blood becomes critical during winter

January 30, 2014

Wilkes University in conjunction with the Red Cross is holding a blood drive at the Henry Student Center Ballroom from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 6.

The need for blood becomes critical at this time of year because donations drop off during the holidays and this continues into the winter months even though winter car accidents increase the demand.

The number of blood units the Wilkes University receives at this time of the year usually decreases drastically from about 100 units early in the school year to about 30 units in the winter, according to the Red Cross. Typically in the U.S., about 41,000 units of blood are necessary each day.

All blood donors need to bring a driver’s license along with two other forms of ID preferably a donor’s card if they have one. Donors should also drink at least 16 ounces of water and eat a healthy meal prior to the donation.

The Red Cross recommends adequate sleep the night before the donation as well as eating foods such as lean red meat, beans and poultry to bolster the iron level before the donation will add to the donor’s strength.

The American Red Cross will give all participants a free T-shirt, as well as serving refreshments, post donation.

Contact Megan Valkenburg via email at [email protected] or call 570-408-5905 with any questions.

About the Contributor

Brittany Battista, Advertising Manager

Advertising Manager Brittany is a sophomore Communications major with concentrations in Public Relations and Rhetoric and holds the position of Advertising Manager for The Beacon. She is on the Executive Board of Zebra Communication’s, Wilkes University’s student-run public relations agency. Along with Zebra, Brittany is heavily involved with many other activities on campus as co-host for the campus TV show Wilkes World and also a writer for the communications department newsletter, The Medium. She is also one of the student coordinators for the annual Tom Bigler Journalism Conference which invites hundreds of high school students to Wilkes for speakers and workshops. She is also the Social Media Director of Zebra Communications and Wilkes World.