Blood Drive/Bone Marrow Registry
Rejoice Lutheran Church sponsors blood drives approximately every eight weeks in conjunction with other local Lutheran churches. The drive location rotates between Rejoice, Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Batavia, and Hosanna Lutheran Church in St. Charles, with drives held at Rejoice in April and October. Heartland Blood Centers supplies the greater Chicagoland area, including our local hospitals.
Our next blood drive will be on
Monday, October 26th from 3:30 - 7:30 pm at Rejoice. Signing up is easy!
Click here to schedule your appointment online - click the link at the top of the page and follow directions for scheduling an appointment for a blood drive open to the public. Or contact blood drive coordinator Erika Mennerick at 630-365-6893 to schedule a time. Walk-ins are welcome. Photo ID is required for all donations.
The general requirements are that donors must be at least 17 years old (16 with parental permission), weigh at least 110 pounds, and be in good physical health. There is no upper age limit. Donors can give while on most common medications, including blood pressure, birth control, cholesterol, hormone replacement, and thyroid medications. A photo ID is required.
Each pint of blood donated can be used to save up to three lives. The entire process of blood donation usually takes one hour or less. Only about 5-8 minutes is needed to draw the blood; the balance of the time is needed for registration and medical history, rest, and snacks. Volunteers are needed to assist with set-up and registration.
Please click here if you are interested in volunteering, becoming a donor or would like dates of upcoming blood drives.
Additional information regarding eligibility and donation can be obtained by calling Heartland Blood Centers at 1-800-7-TO-GIVE or by visiting www.heartlandbc.org.
In response to the need for a bone marrow transplant for the relative of a Rejoice member, Rejoice also hosts bone marrow donor registrations along with the blood drives. Thanks to generous donations, there is no cost to register (it typically costs $95), but donations are greatly appreciated. Registrants must be between the ages of 18 and 59.
At the time of registration, cheek swabs are taken in order to perform tissue typing. The registration information is then anonymously added to the National Bone Marrow Registry where doctors around the world can search for a potential match for their patients. Bone marrow tissue matches are exceedingly rare due to the diversity of our heritage. If a match were to occur, one would then be contacted with additional information regarding further testing and potential donation. Seventy percent of the time, donation is done through circulating blood via an IV and only 30 percent of the time is it performed by actually extracting bone marrow from the hip.
For more information, visit www.marrow.org.