KVHC sponsors blood drive

    PATTEN – Katahdin Valley Health Center (KVHC) sponsored a Red Cross Community Blood Drive at the Patten Pentecostal Church on Oct. 8.
    “People throughout the greater Patten area deserve a lot of credit for taking time out of their busy schedules to donate blood at our drive this year. The Red Cross had established a hopeful goal of collecting 40 units of blood at this drive. We had a great turnout this year, with 48 people registered in advance of the blood drive, an 80 percent increase over our 2006 blood drive. And several people walked in to donate the day of the drive.  We exceeded the Red Cross’ collection goal by 10 percent,” said KVHC Executive Director Durward Humphrey. “Not only did we have a terrific showing of donors, the volunteers from KVHC, Patten Women’s Club and HealthPort deserve a lot of credit for assisting with setting up the facility, registration, walking donors, monitoring those who donated and teardown after the event. These volunteers contributed much to the success of this drive.”
    During the blood drive, the Red Cross awarded John Roy, chief of the Patten Fire Department, with his 20-gallon donor pin and David Brewer of Island Falls with his three-gallon donor pin. Many first-time donors also participated.
    “The American Red Cross says that each unit of blood has the potential of saving up to three lives.  People who participated in this blood drive can take pride in the fact that they potentially saved 132 lives in just a few hours,” said Humphrey.
    Katahdin Valley Health Center sponsors a blood drive each October in Patten. However,
it is never too late for anyone to donate blood. For more information about blood donation opportunities, people can log onto the internet at www.givelife.com to find the next blood drive or call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE (800-448-3543).
    American Red Cross Blood Services Donor Recruitment Representative Robin Lindsey said,   “The volunteers were awesome this year at Patten. The Red Cross is currently down about 340 units of blood for the month and nearing critical need. At Patten we exceeded our goal of 40 units and collected 44 units of blood. Thanks so very much to everyone who helped make this blood drive successful.”