Riverside Walter Reed Hospital To Host Blood Drive Monday, March 4

Riverside Walter Reed Hospital will host a blood drive Monday, March 4 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The blood drive will be held at the hospital’s Dining Conference Room, located at 7519 Hospital Drive in Gloucester, just off of Main Street and Route 17.

To schedule an appointment, visit redcrossblood.org and use sponsor code RWRH OR call 800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767). Walk-ins welcome, too.

“The Red Cross provides about 40 percent of our nation’s blood and blood components, all from generous volunteer donors,” according to the American Red Cross. “But supply can’t always meet demand because only about 10 percent of eligible people donate blood yearly. Each new donor helps us meet patient needs.”

One blood donation can potentially save up to three lives, according to the Red Cross. Each year, nearly seven million people in the U.S. donate blood, including many from the Middle Peninsula, Virginia community.

The need for blood is great. Blood and platelets cannot be manufactured. They can only come from volunteer donors, and as the Red Cross estimates, less than 38 percent of the population is eligible to give blood or platelets.

The average blood type most often requested by hospitals is type O. It’s estimated that 45 percent of people in the U.S. have Group O (positive or negative) blood.

To learn more about Riverside Walter Reed Hospital, visit riversideonline.com/rwrh.