American Red Cross Blood Drive Opportunity
As everyone knows, St John’s sponsors a 5 hour blood drive in Hartford Hall four times a year. These happen in January, April, July and October. They are worthwhile and fun events. For the most part, the Red Cross is responsible for 95% of the work. They arrive 2 hours before the start of drive, set up the beds and equipment. During the drive, they work hard, collecting histories, blood and overseeing the operation of the drive itself. After the drive, they pack up the equipment, blood and leave our hall spotless.
Our part is to have volunteers at the registration table to welcome donors, assign numbers, answer any simple questions, and keep a running tally of the donors. Homemade goodies come from our congregation. The kitchen and food table are manned by our volunteers. Then, we supply a couple volunteers to assist the Red Cross crew on the floor by seeing that the donors are comfortable, offer water and being a “gofer” for the medical people. At the end of the drive, our volunteers see that Hartford Hall is back to its original state. We try to set schedules so that our volunteers work only three hours. But sometimes, it’s hard to get them to go home then. They are a loyal group.
To assist in making a drive a success, there has to be one person to co-ordinate the volunteer schedules, be there when the Red Cross arrives and leaves. Make sure that the signs provided by the Red Cross are posted around town a couple weeks before. On the day of the drive arrow signs pointing to Cataract Ave. need to be posted before 8 AM. If any one would like to volunteer for any of these jobs, please contact me, Jinny Scott 664-6764.
If you would like to help or share the responsibilities of coordinating drives, let me know.