The Mundelein Fire Department opened its doors to LifeSource on Saturday for a blood drive that brought out dozens of donors.
Mundelein Fire Department Station 1, 1000 N. Midlothian Road, had a battery of signs up alerting motorists to the drive.
The station’s spacious basement provided one room for processing donor information and an adjacent room for six blood donation stations.
For some area residents, giving blood is a regular habit. Beth Van Dyke, a Wauconda resident, said this was the 26th time she has donated.
“Usually I donate in Wauconda, but something came up and I had to cancel and I came here today, instead,” she said. “It only takes a half hour out of your day to do something good.”
Ken Krause of Mundelein said he’s been donating fairly regularly over the years.
“It’s just something I do to try to be a good person,” Krause said. “I do try to encourage other people to donate when they can. If it’s a possibility, it’s easy and it’s painless and it does a lot of good for the community.”
According to the American Red Cross , nearly seven million people donate blood each year in the U.S.
“Although an estimated 38 percent of the U.S. population is eligible to donate blood at any given time, less than 10 percent of that eligible population actually do each year,” according to the Red Cross website.
Mundelein Fire Battalion Chief Brandton Romberger said the fire station hosts blood drives throughout the years and it has always been successful.
“We generally get a very good turnout and the blood we obtain is obviously very good for the community and those in need of blood,” Romberger said. “Many times (a transfusion of) blood can be a life or death matter.”
Denys Bucksten is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
