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The LaGrange Fire Department (LFD) held a blood drive on Wednesday morning in the training room, inviting everyone from the public to visit the station and donate.

This year will mark the fourth year of the LFD hosting the blood drive with the number of donors increasing each year. Several community members set up appointments to donate while some did walk-ins. This year broke the record for the most appointments for the drive with over 20 donors being scheduled to give blood.

“I feel pretty good about the turnout today, and I would like to thank everybody who came out and gave blood,” LFD Accreditation Manager Mike Webb said. “This might be the highest number of appointments that we’ve had so far.”

Whenever donors give blood to The American Red Cross, the organization sends out email updates about when their blood is used and given to someone in need of a transfusion. The emails serve as causal reminders of the great impact that each donation carries.

“The first time I received a message back from giving blood was from the Red Cross and it was an indication that my blood was being used for someone,” Webb said. “It kind of hit home that they were like, “Hey, your blood went here and got used for this,” because it shows how much donations matter.”

LFD plans to continue hosting the drive in the future to allow locals to help with the shortage of blood in the community. All of the donations will remain in the local area and go toward LaGrange medical facilities.

“We’re just happy to give back to the community,” Webb said. “There’s always going to be a shortage of blood, so we need to help as much as we can.”

For those who want to participate in upcoming blood drives, LFD encourages everyone to visit the official American Red Cross website at https://www.redcrossblood.org/.