You don’t need to be a super hero to save the day.
Donating blood is a fast, simple, and safe way to help change, and even save, someone’s life. Luckily, Plymouth Harbor makes it easy to do. Thanks to a partnership with the Suncoast Blood Bank, the bloodmobile is on campus five times a year, making it quick and convenient for residents and staff to donate.
Plymouth Harbor has participated in blood drives through the Suncoast Blood Bank since August of 2006. Since then, Plymouth Harbor blood drives have collected 251 units of blood. Each unit can save up to three lives, and with our donations we have helped save approximately 753 lives in our community, according to Susan Weber-Hegge, our Donor Representative from Suncoast Blood Bank.
Plymouth Harbor has supported the Suncoast Blood Bank for over 12 years, and we have recently seen an increase in the number of residents and staff that are actively donating blood and learning more about the importance of blood donation. There is always a need for blood, and an average of 40,000 units of donated blood are used each day in the U.S. and Canada, according to the Suncoast Blood Bank (www.scbb.org). Volunteer blood donors provide nearly all the blood used for transfusions in the U.S.
When you donate blood, you also have the opportunity to learn more about your own body and information that is pertinent to your own health and wellbeing. “I have had staff share with me that they learned what their blood type was for the first time because of our blood drives,” said Summer Rentsch, Wellness Director. Everyone belongs to one of four blood groups. If you know what type you are, then you can know when your community is in need of your blood type. You just might be able to help the right person at the right time. To be eligible to donate blood, you must be at least 16 years old and 110 pounds, and you must pass a physical and health history exam.
Each donation is helping to save a life. What could be a more powerful way to give back to our community than that?