Mena blood drive January 11

Mena High School is starting off the new year by saving lives through blood donation with Arkansas Blood Institute (ABI). All healthy adults, 16 and older,* are encouraged to donate blood from 8:30 a.m. to 2:15 p.m., Wednesday, January 11, at 1220 Morrow, in the choir room. Blood donors at the Mena High School blood drive will receive an ABI ice scraper and free health screenings.

Additionally, if blood donors choose to forgo the donor appreciation item, funds designated for this item will be directed to our partnering organization, the American Heart Association. Arkansas Blood Institute and the American Heart Association (AHA) share a common goal, to keep people healthy.

“With the start of a new year and unanticipated weather, blood donations typically decline in the winter months,” said John Armitage, Arkansas Blood Institute president and CEO. “But the need for blood is constant, and patients in our community count on volunteer donors to fulfill that need.”

Blood donations can be made every 56 days. Arkansas Blood Institute provides every drop of blood needed by patients in 17 hospitals in western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma thanks to its volunteer donors. Arkansas Blood Institute is the ninth largest, independent nonprofit blood center in the nation.

For more information or to make an appointment to donate, contact ABI at (877) 340-8777 or visit the site at http://www.arkbi.org/.