Feb 2010 Vol. 13 No. 2

Local 34 sponsors blood drive

Sisters Audrey Hudson and Kandy Larsen sign up to donate blood.

Sylvia “Kandygirl” Larsen, Local 34

The whole thing started because the pilebutts wanted to do more to give back to the community.

After a few months of milling around the subject, Local 34 members voted to sponsor a blood drive and partnered with Pacific Blood Bank, to set a date for our first effort. We had the perfect spot for the donor coach in front of the piledriver hiring hall, and a good date—one of our regular meeting nights, February 26, 2009.

It was a great success! Twenty-eight people stepped up to give the gift of life. Local 34 members got on the donor bus, and so did retirees, family members, friends and neighbors. We even had a few stragglers from the NCCRC. Yes, they have blood in their veins, too.

After such a successful event, the Local 34 membership voted for three more drives in 2009. Altogether, we donated 72 pints of blood last year. To put this in perspective, 1 pint can save up to 3 lives. This makes a total of 216 patients we helped. In some cases, the blood goes to patients just 3 days after the donation!

The non-profit, community-based Pacific Blood Bank works with 42 Bay Area hospitals, and has been around more than 65 years. The personable staff answers questions about the drawing process, or about medications that may affect the process. If you aren’t healthy enough, they won’t draw your blood. And if you want to capture the event in pictures for your local’s wall, Pacific’s account rep, Wendy Theisen, brings her camera as well as her ready enthusiasm. Thanks, Wendy, for your generosity and participation.

Local 34 Field Representative Bill Burton
giving blood.

Local 34’s December drive introduced the pilebutts to an important member of Pacific’s team: Alex. This machine, fondly referred to as “Alex,” filters blood on the spot, allowing you to donate twice the amount of red cells. These donors are known as “double reds,” and we were fortunate to have four in December. If you’re one of the big guys with the right veins, you may be lucky enough to meet Alex.

Here’s a special thank you to Mr. Don Taylor for participating in every one of our blood drives. This man alone saved 12 lives last year! Right on, Mr. Don.

And thanks to everyone else who stepped up to give the gift of life. The power is in our hands!

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