State’s Attorney Glasgow to host January 12 Blood Drive to boost donations during National Blood Donor Month

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December 27

NEW LOCATION: 
Parking lot directly south of former First Midwest Bank, 
25 N. Ottawa Street in downtown Joliet

JOLIET – Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow once again is partnering with Heartland Blood Centers and local mom Jennifer Babec during National Blood Donor Appreciation Month to host a community blood drive from 7 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Thursday, January 12.

The Taylor Babec Community Blood Drive will be held at a new location: The parking lot directly south of the former First Midwest Bank building at 25 N. Ottawa Street in downtown Joliet.

The building currently is home to the Will County Children’s Advocacy Center and Will County Specialty Courts, both of which are operated by the State’s Attorney’s Office. Heartland’s mobile coaches will be parked inside the middle lot during the Blood Drive.

The new location will make donating more convenient to employees from the Will County Courthouse, Joliet City Hall and the Joliet Police Department, all of which are less than one block from the drive.

Everyone who donates blood will receive a $10 Noodles & Company card as a thank you gift for donating. In addition, Will County employees and their spouses who donate will receive one health insurance Wellness Point to be applied to the year that began in March 2016. Employees must register in advance by visiting www.managewell.com and logging on to the worksite wellness activity: “Blood Drive – Taylor Babec S/A.”

Appointments to donate can be made by calling Jennifer Babec at (815) 325-4282 or by visiting Heartland Blood Centers online at www.heartlandbc.org. Walk-in donors also are welcome on the day of the blood drive. Donations take roughly 30 minutes. Heartland is the sole provider of blood products for Silver Cross Hospital and Presence Saint Joseph Medical Center.

Support Desperately Needed in January

January is National Blood Donor Month because it is when donations are needed most. Many people schedule elective surgeries after the first of the year. And blood is needed to help people injured in winter auto accidents. January, however, is also a time when bad weather, personal illnesses and hectic post-holiday schedules prevent people from making blood donations. 

This Blood Drive is an opportunity to boost the local blood supply.

Who benefits from blood donations? Cancer patients may require up to eight units per month; bone marrow transplant patients may require up to two units per day. Liver transplant patients may require up to 100 units, and auto accident victims may need as many as 50 units. It is also worth noting that:

  • More than 95 percent of Americans who reach the age of 72 will need blood (or one of the products that can be derived by blood) in their lifetime.
  • About 75 percent of all people over the age of 30 have at least one personal acquaintance that has had a blood transfusion.
  • Blood is a fragile substance. It is a liquid, living tissue that must be used within 42 days (five days for platelets) of the time it is donated.

Jennifer Babec knows first-hand the importance of blood drives. Her daughter, Taylor, required 22 blood transfusions that restored her health and her spirits during her successful battle against lymphoma when she was a little girl. Taylor’s cancer is in remission, but Jennifer continues to coordinate drives so there is an ample supply for others who need transfusions.