As the American Red Cross decries a national blood supply shortage, locals rolled up their sleeves to make donations during a blood drive held Thursday at Foglia YMCA in Lake Zurich.
The collaborative event — with ABC7 Chicago TV station, the Red Cross and Foglia — was part of a two-day blood donation drive held across Chicagoland Jan. 17 and Jan. 18. Donations surpassed organizer’s goal of 2,351 units of blood, collecting 2,697 units total over the two days as dedicated donors like Debi and Steve Buerger, of Wauconda, came out to give blood.
This drive was part of a broader one the Red Cross has going Jan. 8 to Jan. 31, with January being National Blood Donor Month, at locations in Cook, DuPage, Kane and Lake counties.
“We are big blood drive supporters,” Debi Buerger, 64, said with a smile on her face as she walked into Foglia YMCA Thursday to participate in the blood drive.
The life-saving units collected during the blood drives come at a critical time, according to Red Cross officials. The nonprofit, national disaster and emergency response organization has declared an emergency blood shortage as the number of donors nationwide has fallen to an all-time low.
“That’s why blood drives such as the Great Chicago Blood Drive are so important,” said Mara Thompson, regional communications manager of American Red Cross of Illinois.
She said the monthlong event is the organization’s largest blood drive in the U.S. And this year, the Red Cross has partnered with the NFL to offer Super Bowl tickets to a donor. Anyone who makes a donation is entered into drawing for tickets to the big game Feb. 11 in Las Vegas.
Last year, the event “barely made” its goal, according to Thompson, but it has “really grown over the years.” When every unit of blood saves at least one life, the 2,697 collected this year will go far, she said.
The Buergers said they have been donating blood for 20 years. Steve Buerger, who has the rare O negative blood type that only 7% of the population, is also cytomegalovirus, or CMV negative — even rarer. He is among the “Heroes for Babies at the Red Cross because it is the safest blood for transfusions for immune deficient newborns,” according to the organization.
“This is as pure as it gets, it’s platinum blood,” Debi Buerger said. “Babies and cancer patients get his blood. That is why he [donates] – they need his blood.”
Historically, about 25% of blood donations go to cancer patients, according to Thompson.
Joseph Rock, 62, of Lake Barrington, knows the importance of this small act. His wife, Laura, is a volunteer on the board of American Red Cross of Greater Chicago and his 28-year-old son, Connor, is in his final year of medical school studying to become a general practitioner.
Rock has been regularly donating blood for years, saying there is “a great need.” He also urges more people to join this “noble work.”
“It’s not hard to give blood. And it can make a huge difference,” he said.
Over the past two decades, the number of Red Cross blood donors has fallen by about 40%, the lowest ever. Only 3% of age-eligible Americans donate blood each year, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
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.The weather also plays a role, Thompson said. With the cold and snow, donation cancellations are more common during the winter. She explained that 265 drives across 27 states, including 13 in Illinois, have already been canceled this month.
Christine Won is a freelancer.