The Columbia County Chamber of Commerce welcomed the newest Shepeard Community Blood Center location in Grovetown with a ribbon cutting on Wednesday, June 28.
Benjamin Prijatel, CEO of Shepeard, said it was great to be at the opening and to see all the people there.
“We’ve spent months trying to get this center, this is a location that’s really important to our donors, we try to make donation as quick and convenient as possible,” Prijatel said. “At the end of the day it still involves a needle in the arm. If we can do the other things we can do to make it easy, we want to and we’re hoping this gives us the ability to reach a lot of additional donors.”
Shepeard Community Blood Center has been around since 1978 with its mission of saving lives in the CSRA, Prijatel said. The new location in Grovetown is one of two open seven days a week and walk-ins are always welcome.
“(People can give) blood, platelets, plasma. We collect them every day because we transfuse them every day and all of our hospitals use all of those products,” Prijatel said of what can be donated at the center.
Platelets are very important because most of the time they are given to cancer patients, Prijatel said. They are greatly needed because the donation lasts up to five days, but people can donate them up to 24 times a year.
Prijatel added that blood is greatly needed around this time of year.
“I would just encourage them to really try sooner rather than later (to donate),” Prijatel said. “There is no more important time of year to donate than July, around the Fourth of July, because the blood supply is always at critical levels, people get out of their donation routine…if they could just make one sacrifice this summer it would be a tremendous help.”
While not everyone can donate, Prijatel said those who can’t can always find someone to fill their spot because a person never knows when they’ll need a blood donation. In fact, he added that one in three people will need blood at some point throughout their life.
“That’s where Shepeard and our donors come in and play big role,” Prijatel said. “We’re happy to do that because we’re able to help people like Shaylee (Horton)…who spent three months in the hospital, was under two pounds and her she is today, a beautiful 11-year-old girl who is healthy.”
The new Shepeard Community Blood Center is located at 290 Meridian Drive and is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, visit shepeardblood.org.
Stephanie Hill is a staff writer covering Columbia County government for The Augusta Press. Reach her at stephanie@theaugustapress.com.
