This Veterans Day, the Central California Blood Center has issued a valley-wide call to donate as a way to honor those who’ve served in the military.
It’s hoping to bolster donations in a year where the center has been facing lots of challenges due to COVID-19, says Marketing and Community Development Director Ersilia Lacaze.
“A lot of our blood supply comes from our ability to go out into the community with one of our buses and collect blood. Well, many of those opportunities have been cancelled,” says Lacaze.
The center has also been hit by the school closures, which means no access to student donors, and that represents a potential loss of thousands of units of blood.
In addition, people are more hesitant to donate during a pandemic, says Lacaze.
“We’re spacing out donor chairs. We’re taking temperatures and requiring masks, but you know, that’s still not always as comfortable for everyone,” she says.
Morgan Barnes has been a regular blood donor for the past four years. He says he still feels safe and that giving 15 to 20 minutes of his time is worth it.
“This is the easiest thing, you just sit there, they do everything for you,” he says. “They take your blood and you know you’re saving someone’s life.”
Barnes says he donates every eight weeks because he’s seen the direct impact he’s been able to make.
“I’ve been called to help a pregnant woman who had an at-risk pregnancy and they needed blood to make sure that her and the baby were fine, so knowing that you’re able to make a difference and you’re able to save someone’s life by just sitting there,” he says.
The center says it’s only seen the need for blood increase, even during the pandemic.
“It cannot be manufactured, so the only way that patients in local hospitals can get through some of the surgeries that require blood, some of the treatments that require blood, things like premature babies, and post-partum hemorrhaging that many mothers experience, cancer treatments, heart surgeries, all of those go on despite a pandemic,” says Lacaze.
There are four donation centers located throughout Fresno and Visalia and all are open on Veteran’s Day.
