Sauk Valley blood drives raise awareness for sickle cell

The American Red Cross will be holding blood drives across Lee and Whiteside counties during September for Sickle Cell Awareness Month. The first one was Tuesday in Amboy.

The Red Cross is teaming up with community organizations to host blood drives and inspire African-American donors to give blood to help improve the health outcomes of those with sickle cell disease.

Sickle cell disease impacts more than 100,000 people across the country, most of whom are of African descent. Regular blood transfusions are critical to managing the disease’s extreme pain and life-threatening complications. However, most individuals who are African-American have unique structures on their red blood cells that are not often found in other donor populations.

Those who give blood through Sunday, Sept. 18, will get a Red Cross shirt.

Upcoming blood drives include:

Sterling. 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday at Sterling High School, 1608 Fourth Ave.

Tampico. 1 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Reagan Community Center, 202 W. Second St.

Morrison. Noon to 6 p.m. Thursday, St. Mary Catholic Church, 13320 Garden Plain Road.

Dixon. 1 to 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 26, at the American Legion, 1120 W. First St.

For more information, visit RedCrossBlood.org, call 800-733-2767, or using the Red Cross Blood Donor App.