CALLAWAY—Give a Lion’s share of life during the Monday, October 3 blood drive at the Callaway Community Center (203 W Kimball St, Callaway, NE 68825) from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Event organizer Carol Willis said the Lions Club is partnering with the American Red Cross to host a blood drive just as they have done for several years.
Willis said the late Denise Howard was an active member of the Callaway Lions Club and the American Legion and had a passion for helping organize the regularly scheduled blood drive, which occurs about every three months. Carol said they wanted to continue hosting the blood drive as a way to honor Howard and keep the Callaway Lions Club active.
Appointments are appreciated but walk-ins are welcome to donate blood! The entire donation process usually takes about an hour but Willis asks the public to remain patient in case the Red Cross is short staffed, an issue most people can relate to these days.
“This blood drive in Callaway has been part of the community for I’m going to guess over 50 years. It at one time drew in a tremendous number of community [members] to it. It has dwindled, losing donors because of age and different reasons,” Willis said.
She continued by saying the COVID-19 pandemic hurt the number of donations but she is thankful to all of the supporters who have remained faithful life-savers.
“It’s important to our community that we provide this. Callaway is kind of often in its own little world in a sense and to have it in our community is very important. I have donors that deserve—they are the heroes of our community because they have given for years and they have given gallons of blood through the years and they continue to be very faithful to us,” Willis said.
Make an appointment at RedCrossBlood.org, the Blood Donor App, or call Carol at 308-870-3594.
