Georgia Bulletin

The Newspaper of the Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta

Photo By Michael Alexander
American Red Cross volunteers Hikma Adem, far left, and Kendall Brothers, far right, join Holy Cross Church blood drive coordinators Mark and Linda Kelly following the parish’s June 13 blood drive that drew 155 donors, surpassing their goal of 120 during the pandemic. Adem is a rising junior at Georgia State University, Atlanta, majoring in biomedical engineering, and Brothers is a rising junior at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, majoring in biomolecular science.

Atlanta

Holy Cross Church blood donation ministry reaches milestone

By MICHAEL ALEXANDER, Staff Writer | Published July 9, 2020

ATLANTA—The 10th annual Holy Cross Summer Blood Drive took place on June 12 and June 13. The church usually gets about 120 people to donate during the summer drive, but even during the pandemic, 155 people heard the urgent call for blood and stepped up to donate.

This year’s drive had to be modified for the pandemic. It took place over two days (Friday and Saturday) instead of one day to ensure social distancing and other precautions. All donors had to wear a mask and one was provided if they didn’t have one.

On the second day of the drive, when the 108th unit of blood was collected, the parish surpassed the 10,000 echelon in terms of lives saved. According to the American Red Cross, one pint (unit) of blood can help save up to three lives. Since the inception of the parish blood donation ministry, Holy Cross Church has collected 3,381 units of blood.