By W. Thomas Smith Jr.
The Richland County Sheriff’s Dept. (RCSD) in partnership with The Blood Connection (TBC) will host a VALENTINE BLOOD DRIVE, Fri., Feb. 12, from 7:00 a.m. until noon at RCSD’s Region Two headquarters facility, 2500 Decker Blvd.
And blood donors will receive a $20 Visa giftcard from TBC.
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott, who regularly donates blood and whose RCSD held a blood drive in partnership with the American Red Cross as recently as Nov. 2020, says, “Donating blood is one of the simplest things you can do to save another’s life.”
Lott adds, “The responsibility of those of us in law enforcement is to help people in the community, everyday, and – by necessity – in various, more creative ways during this COVID pandemic. And what easier and more perfect way is there to demonstrate real caring for one another two days before Valentine’s Day than to give blood?”
The goal of the Valentine Blood Drive is to collect 45-50 units (pints) for distribution to hospitals in central S.C.
“All of the blood donated stays local,” says RCSD public information deputy Sara Blann. “When you give, you are quite literally saving a life.”
In Nov., the goal of RCSD and the American Red Cross was 50 units. “We collected 61 from donors,” says Blann. “And I’m told every whole blood donation can save up to three lives.”
The Blood Connection is a Greenville, S.C.-based community blood bank with six operational facilities in S.C. (primarily in the Upstate and one in Charleston) and three in N.C. which supports hospitals in both states and Georgia.
– For more information and to register for the Valentine Blood Drive, please visit thebloodconnection.org.
[Sheriff Lott is pictured giving blood during a TBC Blood Drive, Sept. 11, 2020.]
