The St. Louis Comptroller’s Office is co-sponsoring a blood drive along with the St. Louis chapter of the American Red Cross 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, August 19 at City Hall, 1200 Market Street, Room 208
The Comptroller’s Office has been holding Charles Drew blood drives along with the American Red Cross since 2008. It is a semi-annual event. One is held in August, and the other in February in honor of Black History Month.
The blood drive is named in honor of Dr. Charles Drew, an African American physician who started the American Red Cross blood banking.
This blood drive will be the Comptroller Office’s 10th. So far, the effort has collected a total of nearly 200 usable pints of blood since 2008.
All donors are welcome at the Charles Drew Blood Drive, but there’s a special need for African-American donors.
Increasing African-American donations is vital because blood types O and B, the blood types of about 70 percent of African Americans, are those most in demand.
Blood donations can help African Americans suffering from diseases such as sickle cell anemia, cancer and heart disease.
An estimated 38 percent of the U.S. population is eligible to donate blood, but less than 10 percent actually do each year, according to the American Red Cross.
