St. James Episcopal Church, 1026 Washington Ave., will host a blood drive in partnership with Mississippi Blood Services from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
Donors will receive a $15 gift card and a MBS donor coach will be on hand for the drive.
Dotti Lowe, who is one of the organizers of the blood drive, said the event is just really important as MBS is unfortunately very low in blood reserves.
She illustrated the necessity of an adequate supply of blood in certain situations, such as when a family member sustains a serious injury in a car accident or has an unforeseen health issue that causes he or she to lose a substantial amount of blood.
“Since Covid-19, people are afraid that it might not be safe, but donating blood is so much more sanitary than they may think,” Lowe said. “These nurses sanitize after every person so it is perfectly safe and so needed.”
Who can donate?
According to the Mississippi Blood Services website, msblood.com., all donors must be healthy and feeling well, weighing at least 110 lbs and at least 17 years old (or 16 with parental consent).
Reasons you might not be able to donate:
* If you have a fever, a cold, the flu or are generally not feeling well;
* Diagnosed with Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C;
* If you have recently received a blood transfusion or had surgery you can temporarily be deferred from donating blood;
* If you have been diagnosed with AIDS;
* Travel to certain countries may temporarily prevent you from donating blood; and
* Pregnancy - there is a six week deferral period after delivery.
Reasons you might think you can’t donate but are not reasons for deferral:
* Donors with well-established diabetes controlled by diet, oral medications and/or insulin therapy are eligible to donate;
* Donors with controlled high blood pressure by diet, oral medications are eligible to donate;
* If symptom free, there is no deferral period for the flu vaccine, COVID-19 vaccine, or pneumonia vaccine;
* Tattoos are acceptable if they were applied at a licensed tattoo facility; and
* Cancer survivors are eligible to donate as long as it was not a blood cancer.
For more specific eligibility information, people can call 601-981-3232.
