Blood drive topped its goal by 15 units

To the Editor:
I want to thank all of the donors who graciously took time out of their day on Wednesday, Nov. 19, to generously donate blood at the Glencoe Community Blood Drive.
The American Red Cross set our goal at 124 units; we exceeded that goal by collecting 139 units. We had 103 qualified whole-blood and 18 double-red donors. There were nine deferrals. We again had 30 no-shows for appointments (21 percnt of our original appointments) and 12 walk-ins.
A representative of the Red Cross indicated that the previous month of October was a tough collection month due to the harvest and MEA break, so the 15 extra units above our goal are greatly appreciated.
This is a team effort. Many thanks go to my co-chair Nelda Klaustermeier, scheduling coordinator, for all her hard work in preparation before, during and after the drives. We are blessed with a really diligent, efficient and hard-working group of local volunteers for each blood drive or we wouldn’t be able to make this work.
We very much appreciate the volunteer hours put in by the Glencoe-Silver Lake National Honor Society members who delivered publicity posters and table toppers, and the support of community businesses who help us conduct these vital and successful community blood drives.
We thank Thrivent Financial for financial support for this drive. The handwritten thank you note from the American Red Cross Collection Supervisor Nicole said it best: “Thank you for allowing us to come to Glencoe and collect the gift of life! We really appreciate all you do for our organization; we really couldn’t do it without our volunteers. Also, thank you for the great meal.”
Each unit of donated blood has the potential to help up to three patients, so your 139 units may help up to 417 people who truly need your gift of life.
As we celebrate this time of Thanksgiving, let us count our blessings of good health, our family and friends. I especially thank you for passing forward your blessings to those who need it most, one person at a time.
Charleen Engelmann
Coordinator
Glencoe Community
Blood Drive