Donate blood, the gift of life, this Saturday on Main Street

Photo by Jody Lane/American Red Cross

WHAT MATTERS will be sponsoring an American Red Cross blood drive for the community on Saturday, March 2, 2019, on Main Street in historic downtown Front Royal. Members from The Area ONE|ders, a new Rotary Club forming in the region, will be showing their support. “As a soon to be new Rotary club in the region, we are eager to begin our commitment to Rotary’s Five Avenues of Service. This WHAT MATTERS initiative is a great opportunity for our involvement in Club and Community Service,” said Doug Sexton, who will be President of the new club. The drive will be held from 9am-2pm at OPEN HOUSE, the WHAT MATTERS community meeting space. Located directly beside the Daily Grind coffee shop, OPEN HOUSE is in the Middle of Main building at 213 E. Main Street.

Blood is routinely transfused to patients with cancer and other diseases, premature babies, organ transplant recipients and trauma victims, according to the Red Cross. “The short amount of time it takes to donate can mean a lifetime to a patient with a serious medical condition. We hope that our community will join us in this remarkably easy way to truly give the gift of life this weekend,” shared Beth Medved Waller, who is President Elect of The Area ONE|ders and Founder of WHAT MATTERS.

Donors of all blood types are needed, especially those with types O negative, B negative and A negative. According to the Red Cross, type O negative is the universal blood type that can be safely transfused to anyone, and is often used to treat trauma patients.

Convenient parking can be found in Waller’s real estate office parking lot at 27 Cloud Street (located adjacent to the street directly behind the Middle of Main building) or along Main Street. For information about eligibility or to schedule an appointment, please contact the Red Cross at 1-800 RED-CROSS or visit www.redcrossblood.org. Walk-ins on the day of the event are welcome, but donors can save time by registering prior to the drive and are now able to speed up the process by filling out the health history questions online.