By ANNA GILGOFF

Special to The Press

On March 3 Northwestern’s Key Club and the Miller-Keystone Blood Center will once again join forces with one goal in mind: to collect blood.

Despite the restrictions imposed by COVID-19, the partnership remains strong.

“Northwestern Lehigh’s Key Club is a great partner,” said Barbara Gates, account manager for the blood center.

“Bob Biese is one of the best coordinators who has the recruiting of the donors now to a science.”

The two groups have set a goal to collect 54 units of blood. They collected 45 units in the January blood drive.

The need in the Lehigh Valley is great.

“There is a blood shortage,” Gates said. “The blood we collect is used at our local hospitals and goes to patients such as premature infants, accident and burn victims, cancer patients and heart surgery patients.”

Supplies of blood have been severely depleted due to several factors including weather.

“Blood collections always slow down during the winter months and winter storms add another layer to the mix,” Gates explained.

She said the latest bout of winter weather caused Miller-Keystone to close its donor centers for two days and the cancellations of many mobile blood drives.

“COVID-19 has added another challenge to blood collection,” Gates continued. “Some donors do not feel safe to donate and companies are not hosting blood drives because their employees are working remotely.”

With COVID in mind, several accommodations have been instituted for safety. All donors must wear a face mask and are asked to wash or sanitized their hands before the screening process.

Prescreening COVID questionnaire and temperature checks are completed on all donors. Additionally, all staff are required to wear PPE and all areas are wiped between donors.

Restrictions are in place to limit the number of donors in the waiting area and donors must remain in the donor chair after their donation for their recovery time.

Blood drives remain the centerpiece of Key Club operations, but the club has also been affected by COVID.

“Our meetings now are much more informal,” Biese explained. “They tend to be communications through email to keep all members involved and informed of community help opportunities.

“We have not had ‘officers’ in Key Club for quite some time.”

Biese said the club manages by having members run projects as they become more familiar with service projects.

“We have our blood drive coordinator heading up the project but with the current social distancing guidelines, only one or two students will be on site at any given time to assist and represent the Northwestern Lehigh Key Club,” Biese said.

Gates said most schools are not able to hold blood drives because they are either virtual or hybrid.

“We count on the schools during the school year to help booster our inventory,” Gates said. “Bob [Biese] has a great passion for the blood drives and shares that passion with his student coordinators who, by the way, are always great to work with as well.”

The blood drive is scheduled for the New Tripoli Fire Company social hall.

“Inside this time, not on the buses,” Biese said.

Donors may schedule an appointment at a donor center, by going to giveapint.org or calling 1-800-B-A-DONOR (223-6667). Pick option 2 to schedule an appointment.