Blood drive in Mena

Mena Walmart 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 12:15 p.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, January 21, on the bloodmobile at 600 Highway 71 South. Blood donors at the Mena Walmart 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. According to Debbie Hite, Senior Executive Director of the Central Oklahoma American Heart Association, “The American Heart Association wants everyone to know their numbers and act on them. That’s the first step in changing cardiovascular health statistics.” Because blood donors receive a mini health check, including blood pressure and cholesterol results every time they come to donate, those numbers are readily available to each donor.

“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/.

* 16 year olds must weigh at least 125 and provide signed parental permission, 17 year olds must weigh at least 125 pounds, 18+ year olds must weigh at least 110 pounds.