Blood Drive Co-Hosted by Lamar County Chamber of Commerce, Am. Red Cross and United Way

UNITED WAY OF LAMAR COUNTY HOLDS BY-Appointment-Only BLOOD DRIVE
(PARIS, Texas) – The United Way of Lamar County (UWLC) has partnered with the American Red Cross and the Lamar County Chamber of Commerce to hold a by-appointment-only blood drive on Wednesday, April 22nd at the Love Civic Center.
Jenny Wilson, Executive Director of the UWLC stated, “Although the coronavirus is dominating our lives right now, the need for blood continues.  Accidents, emergency surgeries, childbirth are all still happening; however, the number of blood drives and the supply of blood has decreased dramatically over the past month due to COVID-19.”
Every precaution will be taken to keep donors safe including social distancing standards,  hand sanitizers will be given to every donor, only donors will be allowed in the civic center and only eight at a time, and each donor will be screened in a separate area before donating.  The screening will include a temperature check and anyone with a temperature of 99.5 or higher will not be allowed to donate.
Wilson adds, “By having the blood drive by appointment only, we will be able to control the flow of people in the civic center, which already is a very large, open space.  Right now we only have five people who have signed up for an appointment and we need at least 30 for the blood drive to happen.  So I encourage everyone who is healthy and able to donate, to please do so!”
To make an appointment visit www.redcrossblood.org and enter zip code 75460 or go directly to: https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/drive-results?zipSponsor=75460  Or to schedule an appointment by phone you can call 1-800-RED-CROSS
For Lamar County residents who are not able to donate blood, but would like to help during this time, you can donate to the United Way of Lamar County COVID-19 Crisis Fund which has been set up to help those who have been financially impacted by the virus.  Donations may be made by mail to: PO Box 1, Paris, TX 75461 or online at www.lamarcountyuw.org or through the GoFundMe account which can be found on the United Way of Lamar County Facebook page.
For more information on the Blood Drive or the Crisis Fund, call 903-784-6642.