Saturn of Traverse City to Host National Donor Day Blood/Marrow Drive

January 25, 2007

TRAVERSE CITY, MI:  People who are willing to roll up their sleeves and give blood and/or register to join the National Marrow Donor Program’s international database of prospective marrow donors are invited to a special dual-purpose drive on Wednesday, February 14, 2007 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., at Saturn of Traverse City, 3566 N US 31 South, in Traverse City. Staff from Michigan Community Blood Centers will conduct the drive.

For blood donation, any healthy person 17 or older who weighs 110 pounds or more may be eligible to give blood every 56 days.

To sign up as a marrow donor, registrants must be between the ages of 18 and 60 and in good health.

For information or appointment: 231-935-3030; or toll-free 1-866-MIBLOOD (press 6).

Prospective marrow donors give a blood sample, which Michigan Community Blood Centers uses for tissue-type testing. “The testing method we use provides the highest level of results with which to match donors to recipients, with the quickest turnaround,” said Ann Dasin, recruiter for Michigan Community Blood Centers in Northwest Michigan.

People registering as potential marrow donors are not required to give blood, but blood donation is strongly encouraged. “Blood is needed every day,” said Dasin. “On average one out of every five people entering the hospital will need blood.”

A marrow transplant may be the best hope for survival for people with certain life-threatening diseases including some kinds of leukemia. “Each year, more than 30,000 Americans are diagnosed with leukemia, aplastic anemia, or any one of 60 other life-threatening diseases that potentially could be cured with marrow transplants,” Dasin said. “Out of all these desperately sick people, fewer than 1,000 actually will have a family member whose tissue-type matches them closely enough to donate the marrow they need. Their best hope will be a transplant from an unrelated person, which is where the National Marrow Donor Program’s international database comes in.”

Michigan Community Blood Centers provides 100 percent of the regular blood supply to all hospitals in this area, including all Munson Health Systems facilities.  Statewide, Michigan Community Blood Centers supplies blood for hospitals in four major regions with a combined total population of approximately 1.5 million. Through links with the National Marrow Donor Program, Michigan Community Blood Centers also recruits prospective marrow donors and provides supportive services for transplant patients and their families.

© Michigan Community Blood Centers