This Season: Blood donation’s summer slump

The start of summer means a cooling-off period for Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center.

The Davenport-based not-for-profit organization sells the more than 23,300 gallons of blood it collects a year from donations to 88 hospitals in Iowa, Illinois and Missouri. That includes UnityPoint Health-St. Luke's Hospital and Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids.

But in the summer, donations dip anywhere from 10 to 20 percent, said Lisa Sparrow, donor relations supervisor, while the demand for blood stays the same.

That's primarily because high school and college students are home for the summer - so student-run blood drives aren't held - and blood drives at businesses aren't as well attended as many people are out of the office on vacation.

'We have the same level of need throughout year, but our donor base really drops off,” she said.

Another concern for the blood center this summer is the Zika virus. Any individual who has visited a location for which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a Zika travel notice - the Caribbean, Central America, South America, the Pacific islands and Mexico - must wait 28 days before donating.

Kirby Winn, director of public relations for the blood center, said those who stop by to donate during a work-sponsored blood drive and are deferred may not make it back to the blood center when the 28-day wait period is up.

'We have a more than usual number of deferrals this year,” he said. 'If we don't have another drive at that office and they need to go into the center - some may come, but it's not as convenient so they may not come in.”

So the blood center works hard close those gaps. It holds competitions among Cedar Rapids and Marion high schools to see which school can donate the most over the summer, offering prizes. It plans to hold a similar high school competition in Iowa and Benton counties this year.

And it increases its outreach to businesses, churches and other organizations.

It even partnered with Park Cedar Rapids last summer, allowing donors to have a parking ticket forgiven. The blood center was able to capture new donors and bring back individuals who had not donated in a while, Sparrow said.

That was successful enough the blood center and Park CR will hold the same event four more times this summer.

Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center also is giving away a car this summer to entice donors. Anyone who registers to donate in the month of May will be entered to win a $100 gas card, while those who register to donate between May 1 and Sept. 30 will be entered to win a Ford Fiesta.

The blood center also will open a new, larger location in southwest Cedar Rapids on Monday. It will move from its current 3,000-square-foot location, at 3235 Williams Blvd. SW, into a new 6,000-square-foot building at 3001 Williams Blvd. SW.

The new space will give donors and blood center employees more space.

'It will be a more comfortable donation experience,” Winn said. 'Right now there's a lot of noise from the office workers.”