Five Things to Know About Giving Blood

The summer months are notoriously slow for blood donations, and you can help ensure local hospitals receive the blood they need to keep patients alive.

Rita’s Ice in East Pikeland Township on Schuylkill Road will host a blood drive for Miller-Keystone Blood Center on Thursday, Aug. 25. Appointments are preferred, and you can make one by calling 1-800-223-6667. Walk-ins are also welcome. The drive will take place from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

If you’re already registered or thinking of signing up, here are a few facts about giving blood, courtesy of Miller-Keystone Blood Center.

The blood you donate may end up helping one of your neighbors. Phoenixville Hospital is one of the member hospitals with Miller-Keystone Blood Center for donations, along with 21 other hospitals in 11 counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The blood center is the exclusive provider to the hospital. Every transfusion done at Phoenixville Hospital and all 22 member hospitals uses blood from Miller-Keystone Blood Center.

You have to meet certain requirements to donate blood. Even though the state of Pennsylvania says 16-year-olds can donate, Miller-Keystone starts donors out at age 17. Additionally, donors must be at least 110 pounds and in good health.

You can visit the Miller-Keystone Blood Center website at www.giveapint.org for more details.

Giving blood might score you more than a cute little sticker. To encourage blood donation during the slower summer months, Miller-Keystone Blood Center is giving away one $100 gas card weekly to donors who register up until Sept. 3. All you have to do is register to donate at a center or at a community blood drive like the one at Rita’s and you’ll be entered to win.

You don’t have to wait for a community blood drive. Have plans on Thursday but still want to help out? You can go to one of the local Miller-Keystone Blood Center locations and donate there. There’s one down the road in Lionville, and you can call 1-800-223-6667 to make an appointment at a time that works for you. You can also fill out a form to schedule an appointment online.

Certain types of blood are especially needed. Those with O-negative blood are like blood bank rock stars. That type is the universal donor, so the blood can go to anyone.

Right now, on the Miller-Keystone website, there’s a call out for O-negative, O-positive and AB-negative blood. If you’re any of those, head out on Thursday if you’re an eligible donor.

For more information on the blood drive on Thursday at Rita’s, visit www.giveapint.org and go to the blood drive calendar.