LEXINGTON, Ky. — Right now, thousands of people in Kentucky are facing a critical need ahead of the holiday season: blood.
The Kentucky Blood Center partners with various groups for their mobile blood drives and more. Adults can donate one pint of blood, and that one donation can save up to three lives.
That’s a lesson that the administrative assistant of JRA Architects, Kim Travis knows all too well.
“My mother had a transplant and pre-transplant she had to have six blood transfusions and I just can’t imagine if the blood was not on the shelf when she needed it,” Kim said about why she chose to bring the life-saving efforts to her coworkers and Lexington for the day.
KBC partners with various organizations, schools, and more putting together nearly 2,000 mobile blood drives a year. The center's director of media and branding, Eric Lindsey, says blood collection services affect everyone more than they think.
“25% of the blood supply goes towards treating patients with cancer.” Lindsey said. “People if you don’t personally need it, will likely know someone or you know that is going to need it. It's an everyday meeting so we do a lot of things with our donor center mobile drive.”
Right now, the KBC says they need O-negative donations the most to serve those in hospitals across the region, as the blood type is universal and can be used for most people.
“So if you’re an O-negative donor and we love to see you in here even if the o neg shelf is nearly full. Chances are we’re going to go through that. Really, you see the shelves are full right now because we had Big Blue Crush last week and donors came to bat for us and stuff the shelves for the holidays.“ Lindsey said.
Typically the center supplies donations throughout the week and they say they could not have done it without people and organizations like JRA Architects, and others who are generous around this time.
“We’re talking about the holiday season right now. If you’re looking to give back, there’s no better way in my opinion to make an impact on local patients. [Donating] only takes about 45 minutes to an hour of your time, so it doesn’t cost anything other than your time. And with the way we split our blood, there’s no better way to make a real-life impact on people in your community.“ Lindsey said.
The blood donations after a series of a test are sent to over 75 different hospitals throughout Kentucky, in which donors are notified that they have potentially helped save a life.
The KBCr urges Kentuckians to donate with community partners or at any of their in-house locations.