LAFAYETTE, La. — It's "Christmas in July" at Our Lady of Lourdes Women's and Children's Hospital in Lafayette.
The team there — in its final push to increase donations for patients this month. With what employees are calling a "summertime slump", items like socks, toiletries, and toys are a major need.
"It's so important because if we don't take care of our family, and the community is our family, then who will take care of them?" said Becky Dischler, a volunteer and the hospital's Employee Activities Program Manager. "They need us, they need all of our partners, it takes everybody and everybody's contribution in order to take care of these different populations."
Still, if you can't donate monetarily, there's something you can give for free: your blood.According to the hospital, with the summer heat, fewer people are expressing interest in donating and hosting blood drives than during other seasons.
"One out of every seven people that are admitted to the hospital are going to need some sort of blood product, a lot of people don't realize that," said Michelle Borel, the blood donor recruiter at Women's and Children's. "We use it that much, it's not just emergency room patients, but that's also people admitted for any type of surgery or you could be here for pneumonia or anything and things take a turn and you need some type of blood products, we need that on hand in case somebody needs that."
The hospital is accepting donations in-person, online, on Amazon, and on the phone at 337-470-GIVE.
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