Wendi Winters Memorial Blood Drive set for Saturday
Twice-yearly event honors slain Capital Gazette journalist
The seventh Wendi Winters Memorial Blood Drive will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday in Annapolis. The drive comes as the American Red Cross is experiencing difficulty collecting enough blood after a summer of low donation rates and high demand for blood from hospitals, according to the American Red Cross.
The blood drive at the Crown Plaza Hotel is in memory of the late Wendi Winters, who was one of five Capital Gazette employees killed in a shooting at the news organization’s office June 28, 2018. Winters worked at the news organization for more than a decade and was a proud Navy mom, church youth adviser, Girl Scout leader and Red Cross blood drive coordinator and volunteer.
“This is a memorial blood drive. It’s a chance to pause and say to Wendi and all other victims of gun violence that we haven’t forgotten. Twice a year we save this space to give a little of ourselves and say... your lives were meaningful. You were stolen from us and we miss you,” Laura Schrank, an annual organizer, wrote on Facebook.
Around 140 people have signed up to donate blood as of Friday. Schrank encourages people to sign up to donate blood or volunteer to work the Saturday event.
Schools closed for the summer and people traveling again have contributed to low donation rates.
“It’s been challenging to collect enough blood to meet hospital demand. We highly encourage anyone that wants to save up to three lives to come out and roll up their sleeve tomorrow,” said Ashley Henyan, communications director for the American Red Cross, which supplies 40% of blood across the country.
Donors can also give a “double red donations,” or double the amount of red blood cells if they are men who weigh 110 lbs and are 5 feet, 1 inch tall or women who weigh 130 lb and are 5 feet, 5 inches tall. Double red donations are similar to whole blood donation except for a machine takes two units of red blood cells during one donation while returning plasma and platelets back to the body.
Whole blood donations contain red blood cells, platelets, plasma and white blood cells. Red blood cells are the most frequently used blood component and are needed by almost every type of patient requiring transfusion, according to the American Red Cross.
A blood donor card or driver’s license or two other forms of identification are required to donate. Individuals who are 17 in most states (16 with parental consent where allowed by state law), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height and weight requirements.
For more information, go tofacebook. com/forWendi/.
If you go
When: Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021, 8 a.m. - 4
p.m.
When: Crowne Plaza Hotel, 173 Jennifer Road, Annapolis, 21401
Make an appointment: You can download the free Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit RedCrossBlood.org, and enter Sponsor Code ForWendi. You can also call 1-800RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or enable the Blood Donor Skill on any Alexa Echo device.
Blood and platelet donors can also use RapidPass to complete their pre-donation reading and health history questionnaire online, on the day of their donation, before arriving at the blood drive. To get started, follow the instructions at RedCrossBlood. org/RapidPass or use the Blood Donor App.