March 28, 2024

A critical need exists for blood and volunteers

Red Cross Coordinator Betty Wallace is in search of her successor after more than 20 years

For nearly 80 years, U.S. presidents have proclaimed March as Red Cross Month to recognize people giving back through its lifesaving mission — which is powered by more than 90% volunteers.

One of those volunteers is Betty Wallace of Creston, who joined the American Red Cross as a volunteer blood drive coordinator with longtime friend Kay Ritter in 1970. Together, the women, who met in nursing school, coordinated community blood drives until Wallace went back to work full-time in the mid-1980s. After her retirement from Southwestern Community College in 1999, Wallace rejoined Ritter in organizing the drives.

Now, after more than 20 consecutive years as an American Red Cross volunteer, Wallace said she is ready to hang up her badge and train a new volunteer coordinator for the Creston Community. The position requires someone who is well organized, has strong attention for detail and is passionate about the mission of the American Red Cross – “to prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power.”

“There used to be a Red Cross committee in the 1970s, and there were people in the community that were trained as disaster relief people that when they needed folks to go to local disasters or others around, that there were people trained to do that, but we haven’t had people trained in that capacity for quite some time,” said Wallace.

Today, the most visible support of the American Red Cross is its continued mobile blood drives.

Wallace said she coordinates five community blood drives a year, in addition to the efforts of Creston Community Schools, Southwestern Community School District, Homestead Assisted Living, which hosts its own American Red Cross blood drives.

“Community wide, we put a whole lot of blood in the system,” said Wallace.

The blood collected locally, is distributed through the American Red Cross’s nation-wide network, which makes up for 40% of the nation’s blood supply.

“Our hospital is a part of that Red Cross network,” said Wallace. “They get a delivery nearly every day.”

Wallace said a number of regular donors do so because they like the idea of helping others and now they are learning about how their blood is used.

“Red Cross sends them a card and tells them where their blood was used,” she said. “A lot of our donors have found that very interesting because their blood has been used everywhere throughout the United States.

Need

Approximately 6.8 million people in the United States donate blood through the American Red Cross. While that may seem like a large number of people, Wallace said the need for donors is still critical.

According to the American Red Cross, a single car accident victim can require as many as 100 unites of blood, which Wallace said is equal to nearly a pint. Other common uses of donated blood are for blood transfusions required by those affected with sickle cell, which some can require throughout their life. According to the American Cancer Society, many cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy will need blood, sometimes daily, during their treatments. Donated blood is also separated into three components – blood cells, platelets and plasma, which are of need to treat a number of other ailments.

“One unit of blood can serve three folks because it can because it can be broken down into three components instead of just using the whole blood,” said Wallace.

Wallace said the need is more critical than ever after the COVID-19 pandemic halted the organization of many blood drives in 2020.

Upcoming area blood drives are:

• Orient-Macksburg High School, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 25

• Trinity Lutheran Church, noon to 6 p.m. April 19

• Creston Community High School, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 19

• Orient-Macksburg High School, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 20

Volunteer

Wallace said she has a dedicated core of volunteers that make up a group that calls donors to schedule and remind them of their appointments, escort donors once at the drive, and work in the kitchen and at the registration table during the drive. With a solid crew, she hopes to find her replacement, either an individual or a pair of individuals, who she says can work well together. To learn more about the volunteer blood drive coordinator position, contact Wallace at 641-782-2677.

SARAH  SCULL

SARAH SCULL

Sarah Scull is native of San Diego, California, now living in Creston, Iowa. She joined Creston News Advertiser's editorial staff in September 2012, where she has been the recipient of three 2020 Iowa Newspaper Association awards. She now serves as associate editor, writing for Creston News Advertiser, Creston Living and Southwest Iowa AgMag.