Blood Drive: More People Are Donating

One event that won’t be held this holiday season is the Morris Area Community Blood Program blood drive.

The reason, according to Larry Ripley of the Rotary Club of Morris Plains, is that after years of declining donations, the drive collected nearly 600 pints of blood this year, up from just over 400 last year.

Normally, a drive is held at the Morris Plains Presbyterian Church in association with New Jersey Blood Services on the weekend between Christmas and New Year’s, Ripley said.

Ripley credits several actions on the part of the club for the increase in donations.

“We added promotions and mailings,” he said. “New Jersey Blood Services provides lists to us.” The club serves Morris Plains, Morris Township and Morristown, Ripley said.

Another reason is that the age of donation, with parental consent, was lowered to 16. “The earlier they start to donate, the more likely they are to stay as donors,” Ripley said. All area high schools hold drives, as do many churches and temples, he said.

The upper age limit is 75, but with a doctor’s note, people can donate at any age.

Other eligibility requirements have changed. It used to be anyone who had cancer in any form was prevented from donating forever. Now, survivors of most tumor cancers can donate after five years of remission. Diabetics were once automatically excluded, but now can donate if they keep their diabetes under control. People will Lyme disease may also donate if they have completed their treatment and are symptom free for at least six months.

Some prescription medications still prevent people from donating, but many do not, Ripley said.

There are still travel restrictions, Ripley said. Anyone who spent time in Europe during the years of mad-cow disease, those who spent a semester abroad in college, served in the military or who traveled for business or vacations, cannot donate. Anyone who traveled to a country with malaria or yellow fever cannot donate for a year, he said. Overall, 60 percent of the general population can donate, but only 2 percent of eligible donors actually donate.

With another 1 percent of the eligible population donating, there would never be a blood shortage, according to a press release issued by the Rotary Club.

Many corporations hold drives, but not on holiday weekends, which is one reason blood supplies tend to be low on those weekends, Ripley said. His group holds drives on President’s Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day and Thanksgiving weekends. They don’t on Memorial Day because the parade, “ties up the entire borough.”

All together, the drives are held 10 times per year on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. They are open to anyone.

The professional staff of New Jersey Blood Services actually collect the blood.