ARC Morrison Community Blood Drive Blood Program Team Leader Kaywyn Beswick, R.N., wrote this report and submitted the photo.
The summer American Red Cross Morrison Community blood drive was held on Thursday, July 21, 2022, from noon to 6:00 p.m., at St. Mary Catholic Church, 13320 Garden Plain Road, Morrison, IL. Much gratitude to Father Slawek and the Church for allowing us to use their facility to host the drives. The ARC brought free T-shirts and packages of free Girl Scout Cookies for all donors, in celebration of Shark Week. Sponsor for the day was the Council of Catholic Women; they purchased and prepared sandwiches, cookies, cheese sticks, and fruit for the canteen. Those women were Lana Nugent, Connie Helms, Fran Plude, and Mary Latwesen. I appreciate your kitchen talents, ladies! Many thanks to my certified ARC volunteers, Pat Pendgraft and Irma Russell, who manned the Registration desk. They are very courteous and professional and always very helpful throughout the entire drive room. I must acknowledge the wonderfully faithful couple, Mary and Vern Latwesen, who offer to help at almost every blood drive, post-donation-escorting and making donor resign-up appointments for the next event. They are a valuable asset to the blood drives, and I appreciate them both.
The ARC goal was 59 “good units” and, with 65 potential donors coming through the door, we exceeded goal with 69 units collected. That’s 116.9% efficiency!
These incredible, whole blood donors gave 45 units. They were Julie Damhoff, Barb Imel, Bryan Vogel, Niki Strohmayer, Randy Kuehl, Kent Stralow, Philip Olt, Craig Brady, Mary Latwesen, Stephen Sippel, Dale Beswick, Pat Doty, Dan McCallister, Lisa Nice, Chris Hawkins, Beth Wroble, Kirk Pfeiffer, Wilbur Wildman, Amy Oudekerk, David Stickell, Pam Shank, Larry Tichler, Connie Tegeler, Kathy Siperly, Carolyn Aiken, Wayne Engels, Kevin Medenblik, Keith Lilly, Bill Kuehl, Brad Bielema, Keith Wiersema, Nancy Shank, Joe R. Bielema, Julie Brown, Tim West, Kenneth H. Steward, Robyn Stewart, Dave Temple, Ashley Salazar, Kristin Boynton, Melissa Hurley, Kevin Feller, Constance Swanson-DeSpain, Megan Huffman, Kathyryn Rowzee, Kaywyn Beswick, and eight (6 men and 2 women) who did not want their name published. We had two first-time donors, Penny Milnes and another woman who did not want her name printed in the newspaper or on thecity1.com website. Thank you, ladies, for joining the ranks!
We had 12 double-red-cell/PowerRed donors that successfully donated 24 packed RBC (Red Blood Cell) units! The fantastic DRC donors were Vern Latwesen, Vaughn Maxfield, Tom Rosenbalm, Cynthia Hoogheem, Mark Zinnen, James White, Cal Vandermyde, Todd Thumma, Ben Johnson, Jill Harmston, and Eric Larson. I very much appreciate all the DRC donors in our repertoire.
One name from the 12 DRC benefactors was left out of the group for a reason. I was typing this report on Wednesday, August 3, while watching the noon news. I heard the shocking news that James “Jim” Shirk has been separated out, because he passed away this past week. He was 40 years young, and had been donating double-red-cells over the last few years. Forty five patients benefited from Jim’s generous giving 45 units over the years, which is over five gallons. If anyone knew Jim, his smile and laugh were infectious. I will forever think of Jim every time that I drive over the Rock River or every kayak that I see. If you knew Jim at all, please consider becoming a regular donor in his memory. Condolences to his family and friends; he will be forever missed, but never forgotten.
Our next Morrison Community Blood Drive will be on Thursday, September 15, from noon to 6:00 p.m., at St. Mary Catholic Church, 13320 Garden Plain Road, Morrison, IL, with Wa-Tan-Ye sponsoring the canteen.
Call, text, or Facebook message me for an appointment time, or go online to www.redcross.org to make your own appointment. Be sure to register the morning of September 15, using RapidPass. Any questions can be directed to my cell number 815-718-5117. Or contact me on my Facebook account Kaywyn Kampling Beswick.