Organizers of Wednesday’s blood drive in Iola had a modest goal of 50 donations.
“I couldn’t believe what we saw,” said Leann DeLong, recruitment representative for the Community Blood Center of Greater Kansas City.
In all, 106 units of blood were collected, from 136 potential donors.
The response in Iola mirrored blood drives elsewhere in the area following Sunday’s storm.
“We owe the community a huge, huge thanks,” DeLong said.
The response has been so strong that the blood banks in Joplin are filled to capacity.
The original plans were for Wednesday’s collections in Iola also to go to Joplin. Now, they will go to Kansas City, where several of the injured from Joplin were transferred, DeLong said.
Amid the good news comes the realization that the blood donations will need to continue through the summer, DeLong said. That’s because donated blood has a six-week shelf life.
And several planned blood drives in Joplin in the summer — when blood supplies run critically low, anyway — may will not occur because of recovery efforts.
The goal is to encourage blood drives in June, July and August, DeLong said.
Organizers collected telephone numbers and e-mail addresses to remind donors they can donate blood again at Iola’s next drive July 20.
“We will be better staffed to handle the larger crowds,” DeLong said, pointing to lengthy waits some donors had Wednesday.
Blood drive response overwhelming
