09/18/12 You can bring hope to a child’s life in the time it might take to eat lunch with a friend.

By donating blood through the American Red Cross, you can help provide the blood some children may need for their ongoing cancer care. With September being Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, blood donors are encouraged to make and keep appointments and help children beat serious disease.

“Donated blood and platelets can play an enormous role in cancer care and treatment,” said Tracy Duncan, Communications Manager for the Indiana-Ohio Blood Services Region of the American Red Cross. “Chances are, there’s a child or a family waiting for the gift you can give.”

Transfusions of red cells and platelets can help save a patient’s life, or dramatically improve their quality of life from day-to-day. Leukemia and other cancers can cause anemia and internal bleeding, chemo and radiation can lower blood counts, and cancer-related surgeries can result in blood loss.

According to the National Cancer Institute, about 10,400 children under the age of 15 are diagnosed with cancer in a typical year. Of those childhood cancer patients, about one-third will have some form of leukemia. Many forms of leukemia respond to current medical care, including the most prevalent: acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or ALL.

UPCOMING AMERICAN RED CROSS BLOOD DRIVES IN YOUR AREA:

  • Wednesday, Sept. 19, from 11:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. at St. Isidore Hall, located at 803 W. Bike St. in Bremen. 
  • Tuesday, Sept. 25, from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. at Ancilla College in the Evergreen Room C231, located at 9601 S. Union in Donaldson. 

Come to donate and be entered into a drawing for a $25 shopping spree.  Please call (574) 936-8898, ext. 384 to schedule your blood donation appointment.

How to Donate Blood

To schedule an appointment to donate please call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or visit redcrossblood.org for more information. Individuals who are 17 years of age (16 with parental permission in Indiana), meet weight and height requirements (110 pounds or more, depending on their height) and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. Please bring your Red Cross blood donor card or other form of positive ID when you come to donate.