By Kate Hill

Staff Writer

Last year, the First Presbyterian Church of Cazenovia hosted 12 blood drives, collecting a total of 414 units of life-saving blood that potentially helped up to 1,292 patients in need.

According to Stephanie Mahoney, American Red Cross account manager in Herkimer and Madison counties, Cazenovia is one of the top blood collecting locations in the area.

“The reason Cazenovia has been a top location is 100 percent due to the community,” Mahoney said. “It’s their loyalty and their awareness. A lot of donors, when they come out to donate, preemptively schedule their next appointment, because that’s how committed they are. It really comes down to the citizens in the Cazenovia community stepping up. I don’t have to do a lot of extra marketing and awareness, because they just know and they have made it part of their routine. It’s a great community to be working in.”

According to Mahoney, the need for blood is always constant.

“Blood has a shelf-life of only 42 days for red blood cells, so we have to collect a certain amount of units everyday nationwide,” she said. “The estimate from our national leadership is about 12,500 units each day from all of the blood drives that run across the country.”

Mahoney added that donating is particularly important during the pandemic because the Red Cross performs antibody testing.

Since last summer, all donations of blood, platelets or plasma have been tested for COVID-19 antibodies.

“When we say that a single donation can help up to three patients in need, that’s because the single pint of blood that is donated can be separated into red blood cells, plasma and platelets, and those three components can each go to three different patients,” Mahoney explained. “The plasma is particularly important at this point. If somebody tests positive for antibodies, that plasma can be separated and used for treatment for COVID patients.”

Additionally, donors whose blood tests positive for antibodies can take initiative to donate plasma only at a Red Cross location.

According to Mahoney, running blood drives during the pandemic has been challenging in a number of ways.

“[Our major challenge] has been site suitability,” she said. “That means finding a space that has the amenities needed to run a blood drive and also has enough space to be able to socially distance at all the stations of the blood drive.”

Each drive requires a temperature check station, a registration station, a health history station, the donor bed area, and a canteen/refreshment area where donors wait for 15 to 20 minutes after donating.

“All of those stations have to be not only six feet apart from each other, but everyone within those stations has to be six feet apart too,” Mahoney said. “So you can imagine that running a drive in a small church basement is no longer something that we are able to do.”

Lately, the Red Cross has also been dealing with a number of last minute blood drive cancellations within Madison, Oneida and Herkimer counties due to increased COVID-19 numbers.

According to Sharye Skinner, a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Cazenovia, the church has been the only facility in Cazenovia to host blood drives during the pandemic.

“Caz Presbyterian has been committed to keeping its facilities open to the public during COVID,” she said. “The church hosts AA meetings almost everyday and a weekly Tai Chi class. In past years other churches and the library have held blood drives, but this year with COVID we were the only one.”

Skinner added that during the summer, the blood drives were moved from the church meetinghouse to the air-conditioned American Legion building.

“The First Presbyterian Church has really stepped up,” said Mahoney. “The church actually ran drives twice a month in December, and they are running twice in February and twice in April. I was a little nervous as an account manager to have a second drive with such a high goal at the church, but they did incredibly. It really doesn’t matter what we put on at the First Presbyterian Church, the donors are coming out and it’s awesome.”

This year, the church has scheduled eight blood drives; the first will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 4 from 1 to 6 p.m.

A complete list of 2021 blood drive dates is available on the church website calendar at cazpres.org.