Dare to donate -- Red Cross blood drive

As of 4:45 p.m. Thursday, the American Red Cross blood drive at the First Baptist Church had drawn 39 donors and 28 pints of blood. Gabe Franklin/Daily Mail

Nevada Daily Mail

The American Red Cross hosted a blood drive on Thursday and Friday at the First Baptist Church collecting 80 units of blood from more than 60 donors.

American Red Cross Account Manager Stephanie Hillenburg said that an average of 90 people attend the blood drive which is held at the First Baptist Church every nine weeks. She said that the Red Cross usually collects about 100 units of blood and plasma over two days.

According to Hillenburg, the greatest need at the present time is O negative and O positive blood. She said that she sees a lot of the same faces each time she is in Nevada, and that getting people to donate for the first time is difficult.

Most medicines are not a problem according to Hillenburg. Anyone who has a health issue they think might be a problem can check the Red Cross website at: redcrossblood.com

Thursday was Tamarra Butcher's fifth donation. Butcher, 27, said it was "sad you don't see more young people donating. Butcher first donated in high school where she got light headed and ended up breathing into a paper bag.

Butcher's husband, Matthew Butcher, donated plasma for the first time last year. She worries about her children and hopes that others will donate in case her children are ever in need of a transfusion.

Phlebotomist Danielle Jackson (right) skillfully inserts a catheter into donor Tamarra Butcher's (left) arm. Gabe Franklin/Daily Mail

Butcher was at the blood drive with several of her co-workers from Medicalodges. Kim Starlin, also with Medicalodges, has donated more than two gallons of blood to the American Red Cross.

The next Red Cross blood drive will be at the First Baptist Church on May 26 and 27. For more information on donating blood or plasma go to: http://www.redcrossblood.org/.