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The need for blood is great throughout the year, and area residents always are willing to step up whenever a call for donors is made.
And, while every collection is important, officials with the American Red Cross of the Ohio Valley are placing special emphasis on a drive that is scheduled to be held Monday at the Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center on Market Street in Steubenville.
All area residents are encouraged to donate, but the Red Cross is encouraging African Americans to participate. By doing so, they might be helping those who suffer from sickle cell anemia.
According to the Red Cross, sickle cell is the most common genetic blood disorder in the United States, affecting 100,000 people, most of whom are of African descent. The inherited disorder causes red blood cells to go from being soft and round to crescent-shaped and hard. That makes it more difficult for them to carry oxygen through the body and can lead to severe pain, tissue and organ damage and strokes.
There is no cure for the disease, but the treatment includes blood transfusions, an effort that requires multiple units of blood each month and as many as 100 in a year. Continued transfusions can increase the probability that a person's body will develop an immune response against blood from donors that is not closely matched to the blood of the recipient, the Red Cross said.
One in three Black blood donors is a match for people with sickle cell disease, the Red Cross adds, and one in 13 babies who are Black or African American are born with the sickle cell trait, though many individuals are not aware that they carry it.
Helping to recruit donors for the drive are teens and adult staff members from the Sycamore Youth Center. And, as an incentive, everyone who gives blood at a drive hosted by the Red Cross in July will receive through e-mail a Fandango ticket to see the film "Twisters."
Walk-ins will be welcome at the event at the MLK Jr. Center, which will run from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., but appointments are encouraged to keep wait times to a minimum. They can be made by calling (800) 733-2767 (RED-CROSS), through the Red Cross app or by visiting redcrossblood.org and entering "Sycamore" under "Make an appointment."
Donating blood at drives like the one scheduled for Monday is a simple and selfless act. It doesn't take a lot of your time, but it can have a big impact on the lives of those around us.