Roundup Record Tribune & Winnett Times -

BILLINGS, Mont. – The Roundup Community Blood Drive is scheduled Thursday, November 19th from 12p-6p at the Musselshell County Emergency Operations Center. The Roundup Community Blood Drive is an integral part of Vitalant Montana. So far in 2020 your community alone donated over 150 units of blood to help maintain the community blood supply. During the winter Vitalant often sees a dip in donations due to the cold/flu season, and this year COVID-19 presents an even larger need for healthy donors. Communities need blood every day for cancer treatments, surgeries, traumas, and more. Vitalant is asking the community to donate 3 times in 2021. If all donors committed to donating 3 times a year, shortages as we know them would be a thing of the past. It’s the blood on the shelves that saves lives. We are strongly encouraging all healthy donors to save lives by blood donation at your community blood drive. Come down and lend an arm. Currently, about 38% of the population is eligible to donate blood. However, 10% of eligible individuals donate annually. Vitalant encourages all healthy blood donors to donate to ensure a safe community blood supply. Even if someone is permanently deferred, they can still make an impact by encouraging family or friends to donate in their place. Vitalant is the only blood provider to more than 30 hospitals across Montana and northern Wyoming. They require at least 150 donors each day to meet the needs of patients at those hospitals. The blood supply is dependent on selfless donations from volunteer donors at Vitalant to ensure the lifesaving needs of the region are met. About 30 percent of Vitalant’s blood supply goes to cancer patients and one in seven people entering the hospital will need blood. Those relying on blood in the region receive that life-transforming blood from Vitalant.Donors can make a convenient appointment to give blood by calling their local blood drive coordinator Jan at 406-323-1530 at http://www.vitalant.org or by calling (877)25-VITAL or (877)258-4825. With each donation, donors receive a free total cholesterol test and earn points in Vitalant’s Hero Rewards Program. We are also providing COVID-19 antibody testing for all donors who donate at blood drives through the summer.Blood donation takes about an hour from check-in to refreshments. Donors can save about 20 minutes by completing their Fast Track Health History the day they donate on http://www.vitalant.org/health.