American Heart Association Pledge Drive
What do heart disease and stroke have in common with Medium? Well, death, of course.
b5media is hosting a charity donation drive for the American Heart Association (AHA) for the month of February. I am a little tardy getting this posted but please do not hold that against the AHA.
If you can donate, and are of the persuasion to donate, please do. It does not have to be much. I donated a mere $10 today and I am sure the AHA would be happy if all you can afford is $5. If you can do more, great! And if you simply cannot do it at this time, that is okay too. Charity is a very personal thing.
The goal of the b5media pledge drive is $5,000. If you would like to donate, click on the Donate Now button and get ready for that “I done good!” feeling. I will post the final pledge numbers at the beginning of March.
Tags: medium, medium nbc, amercian heart association donation
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POSTED IN: Blog Housekeeping
3 opinions for American Heart Association Pledge Drive
Betty
Feb 19, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Another thing folks can do wherever they live and it doesn’t cost a cent is to give blood. Blood donors need to be at least 17 years of age, be in good general health, know the names of any medications that are taken (many are OK) weigh at least 110 pounds, bring a photo ID. It is important to eat a good meal prior to donation and drinking fluids (non-alcoholic) are recommended. Don’t plan any strenuous physical activity for several hours after donation.
Tatoos and piercings usually defer the potential donor for one year.
Each donation can potentially help as many as 3 patients!
Give Blood. Give Life.
Sheila
Feb 19, 2007 at 7:39 pm
Betty: That’s a good point. I used to give blood regularly but got out of the habit when I got really anemic — NOT related to giving blood. :)
Betty
Feb 20, 2007 at 11:50 am
Sheila, that brings up a good point - many women get turned down for donating blood because their iron count (hematocrit) isn’t high enough to give blood - in the MAJORITY of cases, these women are NOT anemic - it just means their iron count isn’t high enough to give blood on that particular day. The minimum acceptable hematocrit must be at least 38% or 12.5 depending on which method is used to check it. If your count is 12.2 or 37 it is too low to give blood, but you are well above being anemic.
If a woman really wants to give blood, here is my advice - drink Slim Fast! Yes! Slim Fast really does have all those vitamins and minerals it says because I have eaten what would be considered a balanced diet and come up short. Whenever I was doing Slim Fast a couple of times a day, my iron would pass with flying colors - so give it a try and see if it works for you.
Low iron is the most common reason women are temporarily deferred. Men rarely have this problem.
Healthy people can give whole blood every eight weeks. Type “O” blood is the most common type, but also the type most needed because all blood types can receive type “O” blood, but type “O” folks can only receive “O”. If you are positive, you can receive positive or negative, but if you are negative, you can only receive negative blood. Folks who have type “A” are encouraged to give plasma and/or platelets which can be given more often than whole blood.
Contact your local Red Cross or American Association of Blood Banks Donor Center to find out where to give in your area. Contrary to popular belief, you cannot just walk into any hospital to give blood. Many do not operate a donation center. All blood is processed for many dieseases that can be transmitted through a blood transfusion before it is released for patient use. Each donor is given a questionnaire to fill out or is asked questions verbally and the answers are put into a computer manually - please be honest when answering the questions. These questions are for the safety of the donor and the patients.
Of course, give to the American Heart Association if you can and give blood whenever possible because there are people who need blood on a regular basis in addition to accidents and other traumas.
OK, coming down off the soap box now!
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