Blood Donations

The Greater Alleghenies Region of American Red Cross Blood Services is donating $1 to the national Disaster Relief Fund on behalf of every presenting blood donor. Most individuals at least 17 years old, weighing 105 pounds or more and feeling in good health may be eligible to donate blood. For information about where to donate, call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE or go to www.redcrosslife.org . Local blood drives include: Wednesday - Hagerstown Community College, Student Center, 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The American Red Cross is holding a blood drive Monday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Hagerstown Hotel and Convention Center at 1910 Dual Highway. The organization's blood supply has reached emergency levels, and all blood types are needed. The family of Brigitte Heller, a Boonsboro woman who died Thursday after being injured June 14 in a car crash on Maryland's Eastern Shore, is asking people to donate blood in her memory. Heller was Washington County's Emergency Services director and a past chief of the Boonsboro Ambulance and Rescue Co. The American Red Cross requests that donors sign up in advance at www.redcrossblood.org, but registration is not required.

marlob@herald-mail.com As if the normal wintertime drop-off in the number of blood donors wasn't enough, the weekend snowstorm forced the cancellation of American Red Cross bloodmobiles, further compromising already short supplies of blood. "We lost more than 800 units of blood throughout the Johnstown region because of the snowstorm," said Teresa Elwood, blood service chairman for the Washington County chapter of the Red Cross. The local chapter and much of the Tri-State area are part of the region headquartered in Johnstown, Pa., Elwood said Tuesday as she left a regularly scheduled bloodmobile at the Roxbury Correctional Institution south of Hagerstown.

Red Cross issues emergency appeal, blood donations needed The American Red Cross has issued its second emergency appeal for blood in three months. Blood use over the summer was up over last summer and the number of donations is low, according to the Red Cross's Blood Services program. The district that includes the Tri-State region has a one-day supply of types O-positive and A-positive blood, one-third of what it needs, the Red Cross said. There are 1 1/2 to 2 days worth of Rh negative blood, including O-negative, the Red Cross said.

-MARCH 13, 2011 CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. — Catherine "Kitty" E. Whipp Six, 89, passed away Sunday, March 13, 2011, at Penn Hall in Chambersburg. She was born in Middletown, Md., the daughter of the late James and Mamie (Brown) Whipp. She was preceded in death by her husband of 61 years, Aldine P. Six. Kitty was a loving mother and devoted wife. She was proud of her many blood donations to the Red Cross, and the fact that she sewed chin straps for helmets during World War II. She was a homemaker.

Blood drive for local woman today The Maugansville Ruritan Club will hold its quarterly blood drive Monday, Nov. 6, from 2 to 7 p.m. at the Maugansville Community Center on Maugans Avenue. All blood donations will benefit Ann Ryder, a Hagerstown woman battling leukemia in Houston, Texas. For more information, contact Marty Lumm, the club's secretary and blood drive coordinator, at 301-790-1417.

The following people received pins during bloodmobiles in May, June and July for their blood donations to the Washington County Chapter of the American Red Cross: 22 gallons - Robert A. Keedy, David Keener. 20 gallons - Roger Milihram. 15 gallons - Richard L. Haynes. 13 gallons - Nelson Baker. 12 gallons - Ralph Horley, Elaine M. Keener, Earl B. Reid, Dennis C. Wastler. 11 gallons - Thomas J. Crosby, Roger T. Grimes, Theodore J. Kane. 10 gallons - Ruth E. Burkholder Rodney F. Saylor.

marlob@herald-mail.com Heading into the traditional summer slump for blood donations with no cushion is scary but it's reality, according to the director of disaster services at the American Red Cross in Washington County. "And we are afraid it's only going to get worse," Cindy Blackstock Kline said. Blood donations tend to decrease after the Memorial Day holiday and usually don't return to normal until early September. But this year, donations already have begun to drop off dramatically, said Tina Stover, with American Red Cross donor resources in Johnstown, Pa. Supplies of O-negative have dropped below a one-day supply and other types such as O-positive, A-positive, A-negative and B-negative are down to just over a one-day supply, Stover said.

It happens every summer: The need for blood is up and the supply of blood is down. At Washington County Hospital, Linda Seiple, technical specialist in transfusion services, said all blood types are in very short supply and the amount of O-positive blood available is the worst she's ever seen it. "One day last week, we were down to eight units of O-positive blood, total," Seiple said. "One trauma case could use 20 units alone. " While summer is always a lean season for blood donations, Seiple said this year it started earlier than usual.

Today's American Red Cross blood drive in Williamsport is calling attention to 18-year-old Sarah Roseberry, a recent Williamsport High School graduate who is battling cancer. The bloodmobile will be stationed at the Williamsport American Legion from 1 to 7 p.m. today. The goal is 75 units. Sarah's mother, Teresa Roseberry Obitts, said blood drives such as this one are critical for Sarah and the other oncology patients at Johns Hopkins Hospital who otherwise would not get the lifesaving blood transfusions they need throughout their treatment.

The American Red Cross is holding a blood drive Monday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Hagerstown Hotel and Convention Center at 1910 Dual Highway. The organization's blood supply has reached emergency levels, and all blood types are needed. The family of Brigitte Heller, a Boonsboro woman who died Thursday after being injured June 14 in a car crash on Maryland's Eastern Shore, is asking people to donate blood in her memory. Heller was Washington County's Emergency Services director and a past chief of the Boonsboro Ambulance and Rescue Co. The American Red Cross requests that donors sign up in advance at www.redcrossblood.org, but registration is not required.

Animal Health Clinic of Funkstown is accepting donations for canine blood donors for the Blue Ridge Veterinary Blood Bank, based in Purcellville, Va. The program is voluntary and requires a commitment from the owner to bring in the dog to donate every five to seven weeks for at least one year. Dogs must be at least 35 pounds, be between the ages of 9 months and 7 years old, must be up-to-date on vaccines and heartworm prevention and cannot be on any long-term medications. Donors receive yearly blood work (CBC/profile, heartworm/ehrlichia/lyme, and brucellosis tests)

-MARCH 13, 2011 CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. — Catherine "Kitty" E. Whipp Six, 89, passed away Sunday, March 13, 2011, at Penn Hall in Chambersburg. She was born in Middletown, Md., the daughter of the late James and Mamie (Brown) Whipp. She was preceded in death by her husband of 61 years, Aldine P. Six. Kitty was a loving mother and devoted wife. She was proud of her many blood donations to the Red Cross, and the fact that she sewed chin straps for helmets during World War II. She was a homemaker.

Every two seconds someone in the United States needs blood. Since January, severe winter storms forced the cancellation of 850 blood drives, causing blood supplies to fall to critical levels across the nation. "It means 32,000 blood donations that went uncollected," said Marianne Spampinato, communications manager for the Greater Alleghenies Region, which covers 100 counties in six states, including Franklin County in Pennsylvania and Washington County in Maryland. More than 38,000 blood donations are needed every day, according to the American Red Cross website.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. -- With school still out for the summer, blood donations plummeted in August, putting local Red Cross blood supplies at or below emergency levels and prompting the agency to push for more donors. The Greater Alleghenies Region of the American Red Cross received 1,600 fewer blood donations than projected this month, said Marianne Spampinato, regional communications director. With more than 25 percent of all donations received in the Alleghenies region collected at school sites, at least four blood types are in need of replenishing, she said.

Adoptable pets at Hagerstown shopping center The Humane Society of Washington County is partnering with Long Meadow Shopping Center at the 19300 block of Leitersburg Pike in Hagerstown, to help animals find homes. Adoptable pets will be at a store front near the Pennsylvania Dutch Market from noon to 6 p.m. on Thursdays. The weekly adoptions will be held for the animals from the Humane Society of Washington County. In addition to pets, the HSWC will have retail items and dog licenses available for purchase.

Blood donations make a difference; give today at Funkstown To the editor: A leukemia patient fears cuts and bruises because chemotherapy treatments have impaired his body's ability to make blood cells. Teenagers critically injured in an automobile accident on their way home from a party fight to survive. A sickle cell anemia patient gasps for breath while climbing stairs in her home. It's a different world for the acute and chronically ill patient who need blood transfusions to help them survive or to enjoy a better quality of life.

The following people have qualified during bloodmobiles in February, March and April to receive pins for their blood donations to the Washington County Chapter of the American Red Cross: 25 gallons - Gloria J. Swanger. 20 gallons - Pamela K. Shoaf, R. Bruce Smith.18 gallons - Neil McConnell. 16 gallons - Dennis L. Kendle. 14 gallons - Richard D. Schnurr. 13 gallons - Rufus D. Martin. 12 gallons - Albert W. Corbil, Dale Hollinger. 11 gallons - Robert E. Clauser Jr., Martin R. Neal.

The Herald-Mail will present a live chat with Red Cross Executive Director Julie Barr-Strasburg today, Nov. 8 at 1 p.m. Questions or comments can be submitted by clicking here before and during the chat. Name: Cas Kriechbaum, III Location: Hagerstown, MD Guest: Barr-Strasburg Question: I would like, very much, to know the date/time/location of the closest Red Cross Bloodmobile Drive location to my residence. I live on Wakefield Road. I had been a regular donater in my previous town of Waynesboro, PA (at the American Legion)