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With summer in full swing, the last thing on people’s minds is donating blood. But it’s as important as ever, no matter the season.
The annual Mash Blood Drive in Rhinelander took place on July 21st in the Hodag Dome. Volunteers and members of the Community Blood Center came together to help with the event.
”Summer is a really challenging time for blood donations It’s hard to find blood donors during the summer months because people are busy, they’re out of their routines, they’re on vacations, enjoying the weather, and blood donations just isn’t something that’s always at the top of the to-do list,” said Juliana Jarchow, public relations and community engagement specialist for the CBC.
The CBC hosts the blood drives as fun community events for people to donate blood during the summer.
All the blood donated during this drive will be used to supply blood to more than 40 hospitals and help patients who need it.
“Every two seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood so that blood today is going to the community members who are relying on it. The neighbors, the loved ones of all of ours in the community who are gonna go to the hospital and need that blood,” said Jarchow.
Gerald Shidell started the Mash blood drives in Rhinelander after seeing successful drives in Merril and Appleton.
“I had actually volunteered at the one in Merrill, and I thought ‘Rhinelander needs one of these’ so in conjunction with the staff here in the Northwoods clinic, we decided to put it together. So I put in a few hours and we got it going,” said Shidell.
If you or someone you know may be interested in donating, you can schedule a donation at communityblood.org or call at 800-280-4102.
Support for this project comes from the Rhinelander Community Foundation.
