Join the American Red Cross and the family of Lindsey Herbeck for a very special blood drive in her memory Wednesday, March 10 from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. at St. James Catholic Parish & School, 412 W. Washington Ave., in Millstadt, IL.
Lindsey passed away in February 2020 after a long, courageous battle with cervical cancer. She loved her family, enjoyed vacationing at Lake of the Ozarks and cooking for all during special occasions and holidays. Lindsey received several blood products as a part of her treatment in her fight against cancer. Lindsey’s family invites the entire Millstadt community to come out and donate blood in her memory, and to help other cancer patients.
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Record-breaking cold and winter storms across much of the U.S. have had a significant impact on blood and platelet donations. The American Red Cross is urging healthy individuals, especially those with type O blood, to give now at this blood drive to ensure blood products are available for patient emergencies when help can’t wait.
Every two seconds in the United States blood is needed to respond to patient emergencies, including accident and burn victims, heart surgery and organ transplant patients, and those receiving treatment for leukemia, cancer or sickle cell disease. The Red Cross must collect nearly 13,000 blood and more than 2,500 platelet donations every day for the patients at about 2,500 hospitals nationwide.
Important COVID-19 information for donors
The Red Cross is testing blood, platelet and plasma donations for COVID-19 antibodies. The test may indicate if the donor’s immune system has produced antibodies to this coronavirus, regardless of whether they developed symptoms. Red Cross antibody tests will be helpful to identify individuals who have COVID-19 antibodies and may qualify to be convalescent plasma donors. Convalescent plasma is a type of blood donation collected from COVID-19 survivors that have antibodies that may help patients who are actively fighting the virus. Donors can expect to receive the results of their antibody test within 7 to 10 days through the Red Cross Blood Donor App or the donor portal at RedCrossBlood.org.
The Red Cross is not testing donors to diagnose illness, referred to as a diagnostic test. To protect the health and safety of Red Cross staff and donors, it is important that individuals who do not feel well or believe they may be ill with COVID-19 postpone donation.
Each Red Cross blood drive and donation center follows the highest standards of safety and infection control, and additional precautions – including temperature checks, social distancing and face coverings for donors and staff – have been implemented to help protect the health of all those in attendance. Donors are asked to schedule an appointment prior to arriving at the drive and are required to wear a face covering or mask while at the drive, in alignment with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention public guidance.
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