Blood banks across US ask for January donors
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ALPENA -- January is known as National Volunteer Blood Donor Month because blood banks across the nation see fewer donations come in after the holidays.
This has been an ongoing tradition since Dec. 31, 1969, when President Richard Nixon signed Proclamation 3952, designating January as National Blood Donor Month.
According to officials from the Red Cross and Versiti Blood Center of Michigan, January is an especially difficult time for blood banks to get donations because venues for drives are typically closed.
"We just went through the holidays and schools, businesses -- places that we're usually able to set up at -- were closed during those times," Dawn Kaiser, director of donor services for Versiti Blood Center, said. "During and after the holidays, people are usually wanting to find ways to give back to the community, and donating blood is simple and easy. It only asks for about an hour of your time and you don't need to get the checkbooks out."
Kaiser said about 30% of Versiti's donors come from high school drives and that schools closing for the winter break drop the number of donors the blood bank receives.
Michelle Gallagher, executive director for the Northern Michigan Chapter of the American Red Cross, said the need for blood is always dire, but that the lack of donations in January increases the need.
"Every two seconds, someone needs blood", Gallagher said. "January can be challenging to collect blood because it's harder to get to places in the winter. And people are always getting the flu or, now, COVID, so they cancel their appointments"
Gallagher also said that while the Red Cross does not do many blood drives in Northeast Michigan, people should look for nearby drives, sign up, and donate blood.
Both Kaiser and Gallagher emphasized the fact that donating blood only takes an hour for an appointment and that it's a simple process that greatly helps others.
"People always say that they're busy and that they don't have time to do stuff," Gallagher said. "It's just an hour. Do it and you're helping to save someone's life."
The next blood drive that takes place in Northeast Michigan is on Jan. 10 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Posen VFW Event Hall on 6836 VFW St.
After that, Word of Life Baptist Church at 1900 N Bagley St. will hold a Versiti blood drive on Jan. 12 from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Versiti is also holding a sweepstakes until Jan. 16, in which all donors of its blood drives will be entered into a raffle to possibly win an SUV.
Red Cross is also doing something similar for the entire month of January, in which all donors of its blood drive will be entered into a raffle to possibly win two tickets to Super Bowl LVIII.
"Blood isn't manufactured in a lab," Kaiser said. "This is something that needs to be drawn from people and taken. And so, when you're giving blood you're giving the gift of life."