This year has had its share of bad news, but here’s a good-news story from our area. The Dixon Knights of Columbus hosted a blood drive on July 28 and collected 59 units.
We have had blood drives with higher totals, but given the COVID 19 situation, this is a pretty good total. What was even more impressive was the way donors were willing to wait so they could give the “gift of life.” The Red Cross had scheduled a staff of eight workers for this drive, knowing we had a lot of donors signed up. Three of the scheduled workers could not come due to illness (the five who worked at the blood drive did a great job).
By 3:30 p.m., we had to tell donors, as they registered, that there would be at least a 1 hour wait. A few had to leave due to other commitments, which is understandable, but the vast majority chose to wait to donate blood.
On behalf of the Dixon Knights of Columbus I want to thank the most important people in any blood drive, the donors, and especially those who understood the tough situation the staff was in, and patiently waited.
Also, thanks to WIXN, WLLT, KSB, Culver’s, and Sauk Valley Media for publicizing and supporting blood drives throughout our area.
Bruce Kleinmaier
Dixon Knights of Columbus
Blood drive coordinator