The American Red Cross is always in high demand for blood donations, but the Pocatello donation center is seeing a different kind of need right now.
The blood supply in southeastern Idaho is doing okay, but it is important to donate even when things seem calm, because our state isn’t the local Red Cross’ only responsibility.
“We’re still helping out with the Red Cross regions on the East Coast because of the bad weather they’ve been having they’ve had to cancel a lot of blood drives, so when that happens they ask other regions to step in and help with their blood supply,” said Liz Jordan, Pocatello’s Donor Recruitment Representative.
When disaster strikes, the American Red Cross is the first to answer. But it takes a lot to be able to lend a helping hand, and it starts with the volunteers.
“1 in 2 people will need blood in their lifetime. And if people like us didn’t donate blood and volunteer then that blood supply wouldn’t be there, our volunteer base is about 95% of what we do,” said Jordan.
One of the volunteers that the Pocatello donor center is looking for is just someone at their front desk. All you need is to be friendly, personable, and be able to volunteer once or twice a month.
“We need volunteers to help sign donors in and to help them sign up for their next appointment” adds Jordan, “and serve them their refreshments, and kind of visit with them and encourage them to come back.”
Another volunteer spot they are looking to fill are sponsors for their blood drives. The Pocatello donor center is always looking for schools, businesses, organizations, and churches, even Eagle Scout projects that are willing to organize a drive.
“We have to have blood drives somewhere every day. And so if they feel like they have a good group of people that would be willing to donate blood, ten we give them the tools to help them do that.”
So for a few hours of work, you can help the Red Cross help our community, and maybe even save a life.
The volunteers just need to fill out an application and let the Red Cross do a background check. You can call Liz Jordan at 520-2722 if you’re interested.