January 24, 2018 – The Hearts Open, Sleeves Up, All In initiative is to encourage people to donate blood and get organizations to sponsor drives.  Every two seconds in the United States, someone needs blood.  Therefore, the Red Cross must collect 14,000 blood donations every day.  The Red Cross provides blood donations to the national inventory, Lurie’s Children’s Hospital, Blue Tie Tag drives, and is a secondary provider to the military.

The Blue Tie Tag program serves Sickle Cell patients where blood transfusions are the most common form of treatment.  One in 500 newborn babies have Sickle Cell disease, and one in 12 African Americans have the disease.  Those of African American ancestry are the best blood match for Sickle Cell patients.

Red Cross of the Quad Cities and West Central Illinois will hold its second annual Board Sponsored Blood Drive on Wednesday, June 6, 2018.  There are also regular blood drives in February and April at the Moline Red Cross office.  To find local drives and schedule appointments, visit www.redcrossblood.org.