Hurricane Laura blood drive: Why you should donate

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - WAFB and Our Lady of the Lake have partnered up to hold a three-day blood drive to help replenish supplies needed for the communities that have been so greatly impacted by Hurricane Laura.

The blood drive will begin Wednesday, Sept. 16 and will continue through Friday. Dozens of locations are available to make it easy for you to contribute.

Why is it so important?

As Louisiana struggles to recover from Hurricane Laura, the continuing issues presented by the pandemic are making that effort more difficult.

“Due to the impact of COVID-19, certain treatments that were put on hold are no longer elective, but necessary,” officials with Our Lady of the Lake explain. “This means we need an adequate blood supply to meet patient needs. An unprecedented number of blood drive cancellations during this pandemic has caused inventories to rapidly decline.”

Before you donate, there are a few things you should know:

Eat before donating
Wear a face covering
Bring a picture ID
Be at least 17-years-old or 16 with parental consent
Bring reading glasses

If you’re concerned that donating blood could increase your risk of getting COVID-19, don’t be.

“The FDA and AABB has stated that you are not at risk of contracting coronavirus from blood donation,” officials say. “Donating is a safe process and people should not hesitate to give or receive blood or platelets. We have implemented additional precautions to ensure safety of our donors and staff. Our Lady of the Lake Blood Donor Center is implementing several safety measures as an extra precaution to protect donors from potential COVID-19 exposure, limiting the number of donors on mobile buses, spacing beds to follow social distancing practices, and more stringently disinfecting surfaces and equipment. This is on top of the standard safety protocols of wiping down donor-touched areas and frequent changing of gloves and hand disinfection after each donation, among other practices."

The need is great and we need YOU to help make a difference.

“During a crisis, we see the best of humanity when Americans step up and help their neighbors," officials say.

DONATION LOCATIONS Provided by Our Lady of the Lake Blood Center and LifeShare Blood Center and its mobile blood units
Date	Time	Location	Address
Wed. Sept. 16	12:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.	Woman's Hospital	100 Woman's Way, Baton Rouge, LA 70817
Wed. Sept. 16	10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.	Our Lady of the Angels	433 Plaza Street, Bogalusa, LA 70427
Wed. Sept. 16	8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.	Our Lady of the Lake Blood Center	5000 Hennessy Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA 70808
Wed. Sept. 16	8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.	Our Lady of the Lake Blood Center (Ascension)	1404 West Clare Blvd., Gonzales, LA 70737
Wed. Sept. 16	9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.	LifeShare Blood Center	5745 Essen Ln., Suite 102, Baton Rouge, LA 70810
Wed. Sept. 16	9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.	Team Toyota (LifeShare)	1788 O'Neal Ln, Baton Rouge, LA 70816
Wed. Sept. 16	11:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.	Baton Rouge Rehabilitation Hospital (LifeShare)	8595 United Plaza Blvd, Baton Rouge, LA 70809
Wed. Sept. 16	2:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.	Paul G. Manship YMCA (LifeShare)	8100 YMCA Plaza Dr, Baton Rouge, LA 70810
Thurs. Sept. 17	6:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.	Woman's Hospital	100 Woman's Way, Baton Rouge, LA 70817
Thurs. Sept. 17	9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.	NeuroMedical Center	10101 Park Rowe Ave., Baton Rouge, LA 70810
Thurs. Sept. 17	8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.	Our Lady of the Lake Blood Center	5000 Hennessy Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA 70808
Thurs. Sept. 17	9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.	LifeShare Blood Center	5745 Essen Ln., Suite 102, Baton Rouge, LA 70810
Thurs. Sept. 17	10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.	Rouses Market	3446 Drusilla Lane, Baton Rouge, LA 70809
Thurs. Sept. 17	2:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.	Walmart Central (LifeShare)	10200 Sullivan Rd, Baton Rouge, LA 70818
Thurs. Sept. 17	2:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.	Walmart Walker (LifeShare)	28270 Walker South Rd S, Walker, LA 70785
Thurs. Sept. 17	3:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.	Oak Point Fresh Market Watson (LifeShare)	35045 LA-16, Denham Springs, LA 70706
Fri. Sept. 18	8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.	Our Lady of the Lake Blood Center	5000 Hennessy Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA 70808
Fri. Sept. 18	8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.	Our Lady of the Lake Blood Center (Ascension)	1404 West Clare Blvd., Gonzales, LA 70737
Fri. Sept. 18	8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.	LifeShare Blood Center	5745 Essen Ln., Suite 102, Baton Rouge, LA 70810
Fri. Sept. 18	7:00 a.m. -11:00 a.m.	C.B. Pennington YMCA (LifeShare)	15550 Old Hammond Hwy, Baton Rouge, LA 70816
Fri. Sept. 18	1:00 p.m. -5:00 p.m.	Walmart Prairieville (LifeShare)	17585 Airline Hwy, Prairieville, LA 70769
Fri. Sept. 18	2:00 p.m. -7:00 p.m.	Walmart Zachary (LifeShare)	5801 Main St, Zachary, LA 70791
Fri. Sept. 18	1:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.	Park Rowe Village at Perkins Rowe Apartments (LifeShare)	10201 Park Rowe Ave, Baton Rouge, LA 70810
Fri. Sept. 18	10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.	Murphy Law Firm	2354 S. Acadian Thru., Baton Rouge, LA 70809
Fri. Sept. 18	10:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.	Essential Federal Credit Union	2370 Town Center Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA 70809