Covenant held one of their blood drives for employees in January, which is also National Blood Donor Month.
Leonard Gilliard is one of a number of Covenant Employees who takes part in their blood drives.
“I really feel like it’s important to give back to the community,” Gilliard said.
He said he’s been giving blood now for about five years.
“There’s always blood drives going on and I never really gave, and I thought, why not try it, and the first time I gave they treated me really well and it went smoothly and so I thought, why not, and I’ve been doing it ever since,” he said.
The January blood drive was just one of five blood drives Covenant has throughout the year. They spread them out so that employees who choose to give have enough time between drives to be able to give again.
“It helps to make sure that we have blood available for emergencies and people that require blood transfusion on a regular basis,” transfusion safety coordinator Karin Whitten said.
She said taking the time to donate can make a big impact in the Lubbock community.
“People should give blood because you can save lives,” she said. “Unfortunately, there’s nothing that replaces blood, so when people have to have blood, that’s all they can give them. So it does save lives and you can actually save three lives, you can make three different products from a unit of whole blood. So it really provides a huge services to our patients that require blood transfusions.”
Both Whitten and Gilliard have some advice for anyone who considers giving blood.
“We ask that you don’t donate on an empty stomach, eat before you come,” Whitten said. “That helps with making you feel better when you donate.”
“Go ahead and do it, if you have any anxiety about it, go and shadow a friend, see the process, but again, you’ll feel better once you do, because you’re contributing and it’s a good thing,” Gilliard said.
