Many New Year’s resolutions focus on breaking bad habits. The American Red Cross encourages residents to take up a new, positive habit instead. By resolving to donate blood or platelets next year, someone can help save the life of one out of 10 hospital patients who require blood for emergency or ongoing medical care. Every two seconds, someone needs a blood transfusion in the United States. Frequent donations through the American Red Cross can help keep the nation’s blood supply strong and ensure it will be available any time and anywhere it’s needed. “A resolution to donate blood in the new year is a resolution that lasts a lifetime,” said Tracy Duncan Fox, Communications Manager for the Indiana-Ohio Blood Services Region of the American Red Cross. “Your donation may help save the lives of three people. It could be a 3-year old with cancer, a high school student with leukemia, or a young mother who has unexpected complications after giving birth.” Someone who donates through the Red Cross will join about four million blood donors nationwide in a lifesaving cause. The need for blood is constant. Every day, patients across the U.S. need an average of 44,000 units of red blood cells. That’s about 16 million donations transfused to five million patients each year. “Your donation is needed and may give someone another day, another week, another month to spend with loved ones and friends,” said Duncan Fox. “That’s a new year’s resolution worth keeping.” Upcoming area Red Cross blood drives: • Jan. 5 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the YMCA, 1401 E. Smith St. in Warsaw. • Jan. 7 from 2 to 6 p.m. at Mentone United Methodist Church, 120 E. Main St., Mentone. • Jan. 8 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Center Lake Pavilion, 117 Canal St. in Warsaw. To schedule an appointment to donate call 1-800-733-2767 or visit redcrossblood.org for more information. Individuals who are 17 years of age (16 with parental permission in Indiana and Ohio), 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. Bring your Red Cross blood donor card or other form of positive ID when you come to donate. The Indiana-Ohio Blood Services Region serves northern and central Indiana and northwestern Ohio, and needs to collect about 500 units of blood a day to meet patient need in 60 hospitals. The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, visit redcross.org or join their blog at http://blog.redcross.org
