LOUISVILLE, Ky. — State Representative Sarah Stalker, D-Louisville, hosted a “Mutual Aid Day” in St. Matthews on Saturday. Resources were provided for community members and she partnered with the American Red Cross for a blood drive.
Someone in the United States needs blood or platelets every two seconds, according to the American Red Cross.
“You can help six people every time you do a power red donation, so we want people to be aware of that,” said Derrick Honeycutt, an account manager for the American Red Cross. “Also, we appreciate all whole-blood donations as well because every time you do a whole-blood donation, it saves three lives. Three people get to go home that day.”
With a shortage of type O blood across the nation, it’s encouraged that people donate.
The Kentucky Blood Center is reporting that it’s in critical need of O negative blood. People with this blood type are universal donors.
“We don’t like to see that critical need for O-negative heading into the first holiday weekend of the summer, and so that’s why we wanted to get out ahead of that and get the word out to folks to get out and donate,” said Mandy Brajuha, the vice president of external relations for the Kentucky Blood Center.
Events like the Mutual Aid Day, where an American Red Cross blood donation drive took place, are crucial. A steady stream of donors attended to give back, including Stalker.
“This day is really about showing up for community members, and one another and doing what we can where we can,” Stalker said.
Louisville Metro Council member Andrew Owen, District 9, also donated and stressed the importance of the community coming together in the wake of recent storms.
“We’ve had a lot of incidents in Kentucky recently… bad storms and tornadoes and flooding and all sorts of things,” Owen said. “There’s always a need for blood, but there’s an acute need for blood right now so we wanted that to be part of this day.”
There were also several resources that were distributed to the community at the event.
“We’ll have the Louisville Fire Department here, as well as the Saint Matthew’s Fire Department,” Stalker said. “They will be providing free smoke detectors for folks, and we’ll happily install them as well for folks in their home. We will have free lead paint testing kits, courtesy of the Louisville Metro Health Department. There will also be a seed exchange. There will be reproductive health care items. There will also be folks that are here to set up to help with voter registration.”
Stalker said that the event also gives the community a chance to connect.
The American Red Cross and Kentucky Blood Center have information on upcoming blood drives on their websites for people who are interested in donating.
