Calling All Vampires: Blood Bank needs Blood

The Rio Grande Valley has many good aspects to it. Donating blood, however, or the willingness to donate, isn’t one of them.

In that regard, we’re getting the same failing grade we get with regard to animal care.

Approximately 70 percent of the local population is eligible to donate blood, but less than three percent ever do. (Source: Vitalant Blood Bank.)

On top of that, officials with Vitalant (blood banks in McAllen and Harlingen) have said recently that currently, they are experiencing an approximate 30 percent decline in blood donations.

They’re still above critical levels but they want to stay stocked up so their current supply doesn’t run any lower. The red stuff is indeed a precious thing.

Blood is taken for granted until there is a shortage. Strange how that works.

According to Vitalant: “Every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood. This could be a little girl in the ICU or a mother with Stage 3 leukemia. If you’re worried about needles, don’t be—most blood donors compare the experience to a mild, split-second pinch! The entire process is very safe and very fast, and you will feel amazing knowing you potentially saved up to three people.”

For people who donate blood, it’s helpful from a practical sense, sure; but those who do donate say they also feel a sense of well-being because they’re contributing something of value to their community. In other words, the simple act of giving can facilitate the release of that feel-good natural chemical, endorphins.

In other words, donating blood is akin to doing something that benefits someone other than self, which is a dying concept for a lot of people who love to post selfies on social media.

“Look at my new dress.” “Digging my new shaved head.” “Two tickets to Vegas.” They forget that few people besides mom really care how they look, and she’s not on Facebook that often anyway, and besides that, in today’s new world, people aren’t focused on anyone else but self. You post a selfie, they’ll post one back just to get a leg up and overshadow the one you just uploaded.

In fact, the main message to this convoluted story, written at the last minute because there was no other story already written for the frontpage this week, is that one blood donation can help save three adults and/or up to six babies.

The best donor, some might say — O negative. It’s the universal blood type, so it can be used on anyone, no matter the blood type they have. It’s also the universal blood type needed for emergency transfusions and for immune-deficient infants.

So come on, give a little, O neg. Vampire, no vampire, if you have good blood to share, please donate.

The number for Vitalant in McAllen and Harlingen — 877-258-4825.

Last but not least, just for fun, let me ask my Google AI assistant to craft me a little poem about a blood donor who is actually a hero/heroine for having done so.

Not bad. I asked my AI buddy to write a four-stanza poem about a blood donor, label them a hero/ heroine, and in less than 10 seconds, here’s what I got back, a poem titled:

“The Bloodgiver:”

A hero, not in capes or steel,
But in the veins that bravely yield.
A quiet strength, a selfless art,
That heals the wounded, mends the heart.

With needle's prick, a gift is given,
A life extended, a hope enlivened.
A crimson tide, a precious flow,
A beacon shining, bright and low.

No fanfare sounds, no medals gleam,
Yet in the blood, a hero's dream.
A silent sacrifice, a noble deed,
A selfless act, a hero's creed.

Though unseen, unpraised, unknown,
A hero's heart, a selfless stone.
In every drop, a life renewed,
A gift of hope, a gratitude.