During this pandemic of COVID-19 there are a lot of different worries and one of them is a short supply for blood. Since the spread of the virus, a lot of blood donors cancelled their appointments to go donate blood and the drop in donations was seen pretty quickly. Not only has this number dropped because of blood donors but also those holding the blood drives.
Madison Memorial Hospital got together with Madison School District to do something about it and they planned the Super Blood Drive with the help of the American Red Cross. The reason this blood drive will be called a ‘super’ blood drive is because there will be 72 people coming in, when usually, there are more like 25 people coming in.
“We told them (American Red Cross) that there was a lot of interest in our community, we really wanted to extend the hours of it and wondered if they had more people who could come in,” said Jessica Goudy, the spokeswoman for Madison School District.
The 65 spots filled up quickly. There aren’t any available times for people to sign in to go donate. Goudy explained they told extra donors about a blood drive happening next week and that also got filled pretty quickly. The Super Blood Drive was filled in 24 hours, which is something that made Goudy feel so happy with the Rexburg community.
“Rexburg just, they want to help, they want to give back right now and we are all seating at home and we have no idea how to and so when the opportunities pop up they jump on it, and so I think its pretty amazing,” she said.
The American Red Cross is trying to do this in all of the nation and are taking the necessary precautions to keep everybody safe. Everyone will be at least 10 feet apart from each other and all of the volunteers will have a PP suit. They will also check the temperature of the donors when checking in.
If you want to donate go to the Red Cross website and put in your zip code to check the nearest blood drive by you. You can go there by clicking here.