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September 25, 2009

Blood donors sign up to give at Fort Supply

Cherri Fike of Fort Supply focused on reading a magazine while a technician pricked her finger for a blood test.

The technician, Rachel Scott, needed the test to determine whether Fike had enough iron in her blood to donate it to the Oklahoma Blood Institute.

It was the first time the OBI had visited Fort Supply while seeking donors for its blood drive.

“We’re from Enid,” said Shannon Kirkhart, apheresis technician with the institute. “We were in Buffalo Monday, and we’ll be in Laverne next week.”

Because only six percent of the population in Oklahoma donates blood, the OBI is reaching out to smaller communities to raise the number of donors, Kirkhart said.

“We’re getting 46,” Kirkhart said of the number of donors who signed up. “For being as small a community as Fort Supply is, and with four hours to draw blood, that’s very good.”

The Fort Supply School Student Council sponsored the drive, which was held at the school from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, said Deborah Miller, blood drive coordinator.

In addition to students who sponsored the drive “eight seniors signed up to donate,” Miller said. “That’s almost our whole senior class.”

Kirkhart said the students had to be 17-years-old to donate blood.

After spending 35 to 45 minutes giving their blood, donors were served cookies and juice to give them an extra burst of energy. They also were given an OSU or OU shirt as a token of appreciation.

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