LA GRANDE — La Grande is on pace for another record-breaking year in blood donations.
A total of 262 units of blood were collected during a two-day American Red Cross blood drive on Tuesday, Jan. 17, and Wednesday, Jan. 18, its first local event in 2023. This is the most blood collected in one La Grande Red Cross blood drive in at least 20 years, according to Sheldon Strand, who coordinates the La Grande blood draws with his wife, Linda Strand.
This puts La Grande, with four blood drives remaining in the year, on pace to break its 2022 mark of 1,176 units, the most collected in at least two decades.
La Grande, at its current pace, would collect 1,310 units in 2023 in five blood draws. A unit of blood is about one pint. The next draw in La Grande will take place in March.
About 245 people came to participate in the blood draw, which was again conducted at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Gekeler Lane.
The organizers praised the Red Cross staff for running things smoothly.
“A very efficient Red Cross staff made wait times virtually nonexistent," Sheldon Strand said.Â
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