You can join the fight to beat cancer, one blood donation at a time.
"Blood and platelets from volunteer donors can be vital to the care and treatment of people with cancer," said Sharyn Whitman, CEO for the Indiana-Ohio Region of the American Red Cross. "You can make such a difference to someone very sick through the simple act of rolling up your sleeve."
Every day, cancer patients may depend on blood being there for emergency or ongoing care. Leukemia and other cancers can cause anemia and internal bleeding, chemotherapy and radiation can lower blood counts, and cancer-related surgeries can result in blood loss. Transfusions of red blood cells and platelets can literally keep a patient from bleeding to death, or dramatically improve the quality of their life.
Just under one million people in the U.S. are living with or in remission from a form of blood cancer, according to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. And every four minutes, one person in the U.S. is diagnosed with a blood cancer.
With September designated National Blood Cancer Awareness Month, donors are encouraged to make and keep appointments to give blood or platelets.
"We often hear from cancer patients or families who want to thank donors for their generosity," said Whitman.
Upcoming American Red Cross blood drives in Lake County:
• 3:30 to 6 p.m. today at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, 3711 Ridge Road in Highland. This is a Power in the Blood interfaith initiative which aims to bring together groups of all beliefs to help the community maintain the supply of donated blood.
• 1 to 7 p.m. Thursday in the Fellowship Hall at St. Matthias Church, 101 Burrell Drive in Crown Point.
• 1:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in Classrooms 16 & 18 at Highland Parks & Recreation Center, 2450 Lincoln St. in Highland.
• 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 8 in Multi Purpose Rooms 123 & 125 at Ivy Tech Community College Northwest, 1440 E. 35th Ave. in Gary. Come to donate and be entered into a drawing for a $50 shopping spree. Call (219) 981-4412 to schedule a donation appointment. This blood drive is sponsored by the Practical Nursing Club in Gary.
• 8 a.m. to noon Sept. 12 in Classroom # 3 at the National Guard Armory - 113th Engineer Battalion, 2506 E. 15th Ave. in Gary. Call (219) 881-2400, ext. 29 for an appointment.
The Merrillville Donor Center, 791 E. 83rd Ave. in Merrillville, is open from 8 a.m. until noon the first and third Saturday of each month .
Unless otherwise noted above, call (800) RED CROSS to schedule a donor appointment or visit redcrossblood.org.
