Fire Department’s effort is all in vein

From the looks of things, it was just another blood drive.

However, the blood drive held at the Fire Department’s Headquarters on Friday, was anything but that.

          For the ninth year, the Buffalo Grove Fire Department was one of many departments throughout the Chicago metropolitan area to participate in the “Everyday Heroes” blood drive.

Even though he retired in 2013, Joe Wieser is a regular donor
at the "Everyday Heroes" blood drive

What sets Buffalo Grove apart from other departments, is the effort started here by Betty Ganschow, a Buffalo Grove resident who used to be a dispatcher for the Fire Department.

Blood drives, she says, are held twice a year and include a multitude of fire departments ranging from Palatine to Mokena.  Some of the other departments involved, she said, include, but are not limited to Des Plaines, Mundelein, Fox Rive Grove and McHenry.

Outside of school drives and drives held at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center, the twice-yearly drives rank third in volume for off-site drives conducted by Rosemont-based LifeSource

How much blood has the “Everyday Heroes” effort drawn?  “We estimate we’ve collected about 13,000 units in nine years,” Ganschow says.  Friday's drive yielded
17 units of blood, 2 units of Plasma and with two people signing up for Be The Match (Bone Marrow or Stem Cell).

Drives, she says, are held in the spring and fall. Blood donations at the Fire Department mirror those done at donor centers and typically take about an hour.

Information about future “Everyday Heroes” drives will be available on the village website.

LifeSource staff is busy during Friday's blood drive.