Paul Szmal: And welcome back to FLX Morning on Finger Lakes News Radio. It's 814 and we are at 57. And I have guests joining me not only from the Cayuga County United Way, but the American Red Cross. First representing the United Way of Cayuga County, Julissa Stone Spacer is here. Good morning. How are you?
Jolissa Stone: Good morning. How are you doing, Paul?
Paul Szmal: I'm doing well. And Robert Cotter is here from the American Red Cross as well. Robert, good morning.
Robert Cotter: Good morning.
Paul Szmal: And Julissa, I think I'll let you explain why we have Robert online with us here this morning.
Jolissa Stone: Absolutely. So, Thursday, August 7th is our fifth annual Day of Caring. We've got 19 projects set up around all parts of Cayuga County from Fairhaven down into Aurora and King Ferry. And one of those projects is a Day of Caring blood drive. So we are partnering with the American Red Cross and Cayuga Community College where the drive will be held. And we are hoping to spark some interest to get some people to sign up to donate blood. And that's why I invited Robert Cotter to join us to talk a little bit more about that because he's the expert.
Paul Szmal: And Robert, I think anytime we've talked, we've ever talked with someone from the American Red Cross, the story does not change. There is always a need for blood donations.
Robert Cotter: That's right, Paul. So the need is especially, I don't know, there is a special need in the summertime because about 20% of the blood supply comes from high school and college students. And they're not around. We don't have blood drives at colleges or high schools during the summer. So we definitely need people to step up and come out during the summer if no other time in the year to donate blood.
Paul Szmal: Is there a specific blood type that is a little bit more in need than others at this moment?
Robert Cotter: We need all blood types because people come with all blood types. There is no special need at this point.
Paul Szmal: Okay. Okay. And what can you tell me about the blood drive that's happening on August the 7th?
Robert Cotter: So the blood drive runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. It's in Spartan Hall, which is the gym at Cougar Community College. You can expect to spend somewhere between 45 minutes and an hour at the blood drive From start to finish, you'll be tested for your vitals. And there are a number of questions concerning your health history that need to be answered. That can be done earlier by going to redcrossblood.org forward slash rapid pass, but it has to be done the day of the drive because all the questions about how you're feeling today. So it doesn't take very long, but you're helping to save up to three lives because the blood contains three components, red cells, platelets, and plasma. And there's a need for each of those products.
Paul Szmal: After you answer the health questions for people that maybe have thought about donating blood but have never actually gone and done it, what are the next steps in the process? Kind of walk me through it.
Robert Cotter: So your vitals are checked, which are blood pressure, temperature. We now use a thumb cuff. We don't prick the fingers anymore to get a reading on both a pulse as well as your hematocrit, which is the amount of the relative amount of red cells in your blood. And after the health history is all done, you go on a table. It takes about five minutes, stem to stern, needle in, needle out, and you're donating around a pint. A unit of blood is around a pint. It's either 470 or 520 milliliters of whole blood.
Paul Szmal: Right. And then afterwards, what happens?
Robert Cotter: You get treats. You go to a canteen and have a bottle of water or juice, and we have a lot of different snacks. So you rest for a few minutes, and then you're good to go.
Paul Szmal: Now if people have health issues like high blood pressure or something like that, are they still eligible to donate blood, or is that something that's determined in this pre-screening process, if you will?
Robert Cotter: It's determined in the pre-screening process. We do test blood pressure. But the people with high blood pressure who have an under-controlled medication, such as myself, are certainly allowed to donate as long as the blood pressure, and that goes for diabetes as well, is under control medically.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, there you go. So you can donate blood even if you have either of those issues. And again, the blood drive is coming up as part of the day of caring, Thursday, August the 7th from 11 until 4, and that'll be in the gym at Cayuga Community College at 197 Franklin Street. And we'll repeat that information here when we get to the end of the segment.
Julissa, I wanted to get an update from you on that countywide personal care drive. I know we've talked about that the last couple of times that we've chatted.
Jolissa Stone: Yes, so it is launching in conjunction with the day of caring. So the boxes will start popping up on August 5th and 6th so that everyone's ready for the official launch of the personal care drive on August 7th. So this program was started in 2017 as just with our workplaces, but went countywide in 2018. Because our food pantries, they're seeing a growing need for things like shampoo and toothbrushes, shaving cream, laundry detergent, feminine products, deodorant, dish soap, tissues, like those things that you don't think of as luxury items are for some families in our community because they're not covered by those assistance programs. And so the last couple of years, as the need continues to grow, this has become a staple in our community, especially for those food pantries who, you know, start asking around this time when they can start anticipating those items coming in.
So we do this drive for two months over the course of the summer. We launch it with the day of caring. It goes through Columbus Day. And then we have volunteers who drive around, pick up all the boxes, bring them to CAP, who we partner with. Then we have another set of volunteers who count, sort, and prepare boxes of items to go out to all the different food pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters in Cayuga County. So we are looking for volunteers to help with that process in October. So if anyone is interested, you can give us a call at the United Way office, and I can give you more details about that. But it would be two sets of volunteers, one set to pick up boxes, and then a second set to count, sort, and re-box.
Paul Szmal: This is what happens during live radio, folks. The next item on the agenda here is something that put a smile on my face when I saw not only what it was, but where it was. And that is on Saturday, August the 23rd, it is a barbecue chicken fundraiser for the United Way. And Julissa, I'll let you fill in the details on the what and the where.
Jolissa Stone: Absolutely. So the chicken barbecue, this is like the unofficial but official celebration of the United Way going countywide in August of 1948. And we're really excited because we're partnering with Classic Cones out in Troop. So you can come out, we'll have 150 chicken half dinners. The barbecue portion starts at 11 until gone, but there'll be live music. And then an antique tractor club is going to bring out... I think we're looking at anywhere between five to 10 antique tractors that will be on display at Classic Cones as part of this event. But the chicken dinners, they'll be delicious. I know that Classic Cones, they host one every so often and they always sell out. This year, it's $15 per dinner and all the proceeds will go back to the United Way campaign. So it's actually our first fundraiser for 2025-26 drive.
Paul Szmal: And by the way, that $15 will get you a half chicken, beans, salt potatoes, and a roll with butter. So you can go there hungry and leave with a dinner that will definitely fill your stomach. And then you can pop by the window for an ice cream dessert.
Jolissa Stone: There you go. There you go. That's why I was excited about that because I'm thinking, oh, barbecue and ice cream, two of my favorite things wrapped up at the same time.
Paul Szmal: Oh, mine too. Absolutely.
And also there's a member agency announcement and we want to do a save the date here for the campaign kickoff and the member agency fair that is coming up a little bit later on in the fall.
Jolissa Stone: Yes. So we are already getting ready to launch the campaign. It's hard to think about fall in the middle of July, but that's what we do over at the United Way. So we kick off the campaign. So the primary fundraising period for the United Way is September through February with workplace drives ending in December. And to kick all this off, we do a community event each year. So this year we will be out at the town of Wasco Pavilion and we are going to have a member agency fair. So anyone who's been to the Wasco Farmer's Market is going to be kind of set up like that. The member agencies will be under the pavilion. They'll be able to tell you about what their programs do for our community. We're working on getting some food trucks. So it'd be like a food truck rodeo. And all of that is happening on Saturday, September 20th. It'll be from 11 until 3. So it's a great opportunity to come out, meet your United Way team, meet all of those member agencies, and have lunch with your family.
And one of the really exciting things this year is we have some new agencies. We have the Harriet Tubman Liberation Foundation who joined the United Way. Childcare Solutions, St. Peter and John Episcopal Church for their soup kitchen. The Rev is returning. And we have, oh, Matthew House. They're a new member agency. So four new member agencies and one returning agency have joined the United Way family this year. So you'll get to meet all of them and, of course, our longtime standing member agencies as well.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, this is a great way to find out not only what these organizations do in partnership with the United Way, but a lot of these organizations like you look for volunteers and people to help out with various charity and fundraising events. That's a good way, if you're looking to do something like that, to find out more information.
Jolissa Stone: Absolutely. They're always asking for volunteers. And when people call in looking for opportunities, we do try to direct them out to the agencies because the United Way, we're a staff of five, but we rely on about 500 volunteers each year to help us fulfill our mission and support those agencies. And a lot of the agencies are very similar. They rely on volunteers to make their programs possible.
Paul Szmal: And speaking of volunteers, I know you mentioned earlier on that you were looking for volunteers to help with that personal care drive, not only picking up the boxes, but helping to sort things and that they can call the United Way office to find out more information on that. What is the number that they can call, Julissa?
Jolissa Stone: It is 315-253-9741.
Paul Szmal: Excellent. Now, thank you very much, Robert. Pleasure to have you on talking about the American Red Cross. And again, that blood drive is coming up on the Day of Caring on Thursday, August the 7th from 11 to 4 at the Cuyahoga Community College gym on 197 Franklin. So, Robert, thank you, sir.
Robert Cotter: Thank you very much.
Paul Szmal: And thank you, Julissa. Pleasure as always to speak with you, and we'll chat with you again in a month.
Jolissa Stone: Alrighty. Thank you, Paul.
Paul Szmal: It is 827 on FLX Morning.
