Blood Assurance in need of donors during Sickle Cell Awareness Month

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Blood Assurance is looking for donors during Sickle Cell Awareness Month, and there are two upcoming drives where you can help.

Sickle cell disease affects about 100,000 people, primarily African-Americans, and many patients need blood transfusions every few weeks.

September is also Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Cancer is the leading cause of disease-related death in children, and many young patients depend on transfusions as well.

“Right now, we are facing a shortage, and we face that all year long. Unfortunately, that’s not just a Blood Assurance thing. That is really a problem that is facing all blood care centers across the country. We only have about 3% of eligible donors coming through the doors to donate. So it’s critical for all of those patients that are battling illnesses like childhood cancer or sickle cell disease, for people to come in and to donate,” Brooke Katz, Blood Assurance’s Media Relations Coordinator, says.

Their donor numbers are extremely low right now, especially among African-American donors, who are critical because sickle cell patients often require very specific matches.

“Sickle cell patients really need donors who are a close genetic match because they are having frequent blood transfusions. It makes it more important that somebody is genetically aligned with them so that they have better reactions to the transfusions… and that gets hard, especially when you’re talking about just such a small percentage of donors,” Katz says.

They’ll be hosting a drive on September 8th at TriStar Greenview Hospital, and on September 18th at Warren County Water on the Bypass.

Both drives take place from 10 to 3 those days. If you donate at the first drive at Greenview, you will receive a special “Remember and honor” T-shirt, created in memory of the tragic events of September 11, 2001.