Knights of Columbus set food and blood drive amid pandemic

Event at St. Anne’s scheduled for Friday, April 23, 1-7 p.m.

Donors from previous drive outside St. Anne’s Parrish Hall. Courtesy photo

The Seal Beach Knights of Columbus (St. Anne’s Council 9594) will host a community Blood Drive and Food Drive on Friday, April 23, 2021 from 1:00PM to 7:00PM at St. Anne’s Parish Hall, 340 10th Street, Seal Beach, CA.

It will be the Knights’ 5th Blood Drive, and 4th Blood and Food Drive during the Covid 19 Pandemic, when they collected 295 units of blood to save nearly 900 Orange County lives.  As well, they collected a huge amount of food, and thousands of dollars to support an Orange County homeless shelter, a mothers with babies shelter, and families in need during these times of economic uncertainty and high unemployment.

The American Red Cross will perform blood donations, and all safety measures, in accordance with CDC guidelines, continue to be in place to include: temperature checks at the door, social distancing, disinfecting surfaces, insuring face masks are worn by staff and donors.  Appointments are necessary.

As well, the Knights will be accepting donations of non-perishable foods and monetary donations to help local families via a drive-thru dropping off system.  Food donors will drive into the parking lot at St. Anne’s and the food will be collected by Knights wearing face masks and gloves to protect everyone involved.  No appointment necessary to drop off food donations.

The Red Cross continuously relies on the generosity of volunteer blood donors to help patients in need: cancer patients, trauma victims, heart and other surgery patients, newborn babies and birthing mothers.  Right now there is a critical need for blood.  Your donation is essential to help avoid a severe shortage during a time when bad weather and illness cause cancellations and keep donors at home.

The Red Cross does not permit walk-ins during the pandemic, and does require an appointment to donate blood.

And there are three easy ways for a donor to schedule an appointment:

St. Anne’s Knights of Columbus have also scheduled a future blood drive at the parish hall (same location and hours) Thursday, July 1, from 1to 7 p.m.,  for those who would to like schedule now to donate in the future.