GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Grand Rapids African American Health Institute (GRAAHI) held a blood drive Saturday.
The blood drive ran from 9:30 a.m.- 1:30 p.m. at Brown-Hutcherson Ministries on Jefferson SE in Grand Rapids.
It’s part of GRAAHI’s “Heroes for Life Blood Drive Campaign.”
The institute says sickle cell disease primarily affects Black Americans; however, fewer than three-percent of Black Americans are blood donors.
GRAAHI says Black American blood donations are so important because it’s essential for patients in need of a blood donation to receive blood that is the most compatible match possible.
“The targeted audience is the African American community because blood donations within African American communities is low. It has been low and decreased even more after COVID and so there is a huge outcry for African Americans to donate blood,” Vanessa Greene, GRAAHI’s CEO, explained to FOX 17 Saturday.
Saturday’s blood drive aimed to help patients with sickle cell disease, moms with complicated childbirths, people fighting cancer, accident or trauma victims and more.
“The goal is to have people register to give blood from the African American community on an ongoing basis,” Greene added. “In 2022, we’ve had four blood drives. In 2023, we will have five blood drives and those blood drives will largely be the same people giving blood on a regular basis to increase blood banks within the African American community.”
Greene says Versiti typically aims for 20-to-22 blood donors. At GRAAHI’s last blood drive, they met that quota with 21 donors. Saturday, Greene said there were 25 donors registered and GRAAHI was also taking walk-in donors.
To make the blood drive happen, GRAAHI teamed up with Brown-Hutcherson Ministries, Versiti and the Omega Psi Phi fraternity.
Greene says GRAAHI will hold its next “Heroes for Life” blood drive on November 19.
