FORT LORAMIE – St. Michael Parish will begin a new year of blood drives with its winter blood drive Tuesday, Feb. 18, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. in St. Michel’s Hall, 33 Elm St., Fort Loramie.

The 2019 St. Michael’s Hall blood drives earned another Community Blood Center Platinum Award for topping 100 percent of collections goals. The 2020 blood drives will see the return of double red blood cell donations.

Anyone interested in donating may make an appointment online at www.DonorTime.com or call 937-461-3220.

St. Michael’s Hall hosts three CBC blood drives per year, and they are the largest community gatherings of blood donors in Shelby County.

The 2019 St. Michael’s Hall blood drives totaled 870 donors, including 757 whole blood donors and 58 platelet and plasma donations to earn CBC’s Platinum Award, the highest honor in CBC’s LifeSaving Ambassadors Club. The total represented a 5 percent increase in donors over the Platinum-award year of 2019.

Jane Poeppelman is the blood drive coordinator, and the Fort Loramie Community Service Club, Fort Loramie American Legion Auxiliary and Fort Loramie Knights of St. John are sponsors of the blood drives.

All St. Michael’s Hall community blood drives include the opportunity to donate platelets and plasma, and the Feb. 18 blood drive will mark the return of double red blood cell donations. This type of donation is popular with many donors in the farming community because the extended deferment time between double red cell donations coordinates well the planting and harvesting seasons.

Automated double red blood cell donations are encouraged for type O donors. Safely donating two units of red cells helps increase the supply commonly used in surgery and the emergency treatment of trauma patients. Find out more at www.GivingBlood.org or talk to an apheresis specialist at 937-461-3220.