City of Morris announces blood drive

The City of Morris will hold a blood drive from 9 a.m to 2 p.m., Friday, Jan. 21, in the community room of the Morris Morris Municipal Services Facility at 700 N. Division St.

The Red Cross is taking precautions due to the COVID pandemic. All staff members will be wearing full PPE and advanced disinfectant procedures are in place.

They will also be requiring a staff assessment to ensure all staff members are heathy.

“Numbers are down due to the pandemic and that makes complete sense. Some things people have pulled back on to remain safe during the pandemic. Unfortunately, one of those things is donating blood. We want the community to know that we are taking precautions to make it as safe as possible. We have the great facility that we are able to utilize for the community. We sill have people in need of donated blood,” stated Public Information Officer Stan Knudson.

Blood drive hosts ask participants to maximize their blood donations if they are able to help more patients. Those with eligible blood types O, B or A also are asked to consider making a Power Red donation because red blood cells are the most commonly transfused blood component.

Blood drive hoses ask participants to bring in their vaccine card, if they are vaccinated and to ensure they are healthy enough to attend.

To make an appointment, call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or go online to redcrossblood.org. Prospective donors can save up to 15 minutes when they donate blood by using RapidPass. For information about RapidPass, go online to redcrossblood.org/RapidPass.