1:46 pm10 Jul 2008

Give Blood and Save a Life

Come down to the blood drive on Saturday the 12th at Arlington Centennial Glebe Masonic Lodge at 1 S. George Mason Drive in Arlington. You don’t have to be a Mason to donate, just be 110 pounds or more, over 17 and satisfy a few other simple requirements. Can’t make it to this blood drive? Check out the Arlington Red Cross’s site to find one near you.

There is no substitute for red blood cells. Your time – five to ten minutes in the chair – can be the difference in someone’s life.

Carl Weaver is a writer and brewer for RealHomebrew.com and has been making beer and wine for more than 20 years. He is also an avid photographer and writer and just finished his first book, about a trip he took to Thailand to live in Buddhist monasteries. He considers himself the last of the Renaissance men and the luckiest darned guy in the world. Follow him on Twitter.

7 thoughts on “Give Blood and Save a Life”

Nathan on July 10, 2008 at 2:46 pm said:

“a few other simple requirements”?

More from the American Red Cross site.

If you’re a gay male, forget it. Despite my personal anger at the ARC’s obvious continued discrimination in the face of medical advancements that can detect reliably and accurately the HIV-virus in the blood supply, donating blood (if you are allowed) is still a wonderful idea.
carlweaver on July 10, 2008 at 3:03 pm said:

Nathan – yeah, I’m not hot on that either. I don’t quite get that restriction. There are lots of restrictions but I would guess that most people can satisfy them.

There is rarely a time when they have too much blood on hand, though. There is always a need.
Katie on July 10, 2008 at 3:04 pm said:

PLEASE don’t post pictures like this for those of us who have huge fears of needles. makes me cringe and navigate away from the page ASAP! EW! ah! ew!
carlweaver on July 10, 2008 at 4:20 pm said:

Hi, Katie. I hate needles too and this experience did nothing to help me get over that. All the nurses kept looking at my funny. I think I probably looked pale, like I was about to pass out. My apologies for your discomfort from the picture!
Wayan on July 10, 2008 at 4:44 pm said:

I continue to say that any blood donation scarcity is self-created through overly restrictive screening. Besides the gay restriction, for those of us who travel, the ARC pretty much excludes anyone with a passport stamp.
carlweaver on July 10, 2008 at 4:50 pm said:

Wayan – if you want to donate, you can check out NIH. They took my blood even though ARC won’t. ARC says I am permanently ineligible because I had mono 16 years ago. NIH doesn’t care.
erin*carly on July 10, 2008 at 6:10 pm said:

i have rediculously low blood pressure . . . i’d be seriously afraid of passing out if i gave blood. also, i get upset when i have to get blood drawn for the doctor, so i don’t know if i’d be able to handle that much being taken out.

oh, the days when i didn’t weigh enough to qualify. it was a much less wussy excuse.