Cranberry Highlands To Host Blood Drive

CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, PA — With the need for blood donors at a critical level, Cranberry Highlands Golf Course will host a blood drive on June 29 from 1 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The event, held in conjunction with the Cranberry Township Sunrise Rotary, will be staged in the clubhouse and Tartan Hall at the golf course on Freshcorn Road.

Organizers said the drive will help increase regional supplies that have been depleted during the coronavirus pandemic. Hospital demand for blood has grown by 30 percent after sharply declining in early April amid the rapidly changing and complex public health crisis.

“As hospitals resume surgical procedures and patient treatments that were temporarily paused, the Red Cross is in need of healthy donors to support our community blood drives in order to avoid a blood shortage this summer,” said Barb Kimbell, account manager for American Red Cross donor services in Beaver, Lawrence, Mercer, Butler, and parts of Clarion counties.

To promote social distancing, all donors must have an appointment, and must wear a mask. Only donors are permitted in the blood drive area. Those with recent tattoos, piercings or travel to a malarial area are under a three-month deferral. Previously, it was a one-year deferral. Those who were deferred for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in the past will now be eligible to donate. This was previously a lifetime deferral.

All donors will be eligible for a $5 Amazon Gift card via email courtesy of Amazon. For more information or to register, visit redcrossblood.org and enter CHGC or call 1-800-RED-CROSS.