BY AMY HIGGINS
The Cincinnati Enquirer
This week marks the start of the holiday season, and officials with the Hoxworth Blood Center hopes the giving spirit brings them enough blood donors.
Blood supplies typically run short during the holidays because many people think they are too busy to donate, said Marsha E. Terry, director of communications for Hoxworth.
Meanwhile, demand for blood donations - for cancer treatments, traumas, surgeries - continues unabated.
"When demand stays the same and supply decreases, it's going to be difficult," Ms. Terry said. "We need 300 volunteers every day to meet our need."
To help bolster the supply, the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park is offering 2-for-1 tickets to Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol to everyone who donates Saturday. The blood drive is from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the playhouse, 962 Mount Adams Circle in Eden Park.
|
TO LEARN MORE
|
|
For more information about the Hoxworth Blood Center at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, call 451-0910 or (800) 830-1091.
|
Donors giving blood at any of Hoxworth's seven centers today through Friday can enter a drawing to win a pair of tickets to A Christmas Carol.
Ms. Terry said the blood center has a more serious need for Type-O donors because it's more common and more compatible with patients. "It's a chronic, nationwide problem," Ms. Terry said. "More people have it, so more people use it."
Only 5 percent of the population regularly donates, she said. A one-hour donation of time can save four lives because the blood can be broken into four components. Having a constant supply of blood donors is made more critical because one of those components, platelets, can be stored only for a few days.
"If people are busy, they can give the gift of life in one hour," Ms. Terry said. "This time of year, I know we're all busy. But give thanks for good health and help save someone else's life."
