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6
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By; Heather Dean
March is American Red Cross Month. The
purpose is to recognize the humanitarian
services and accompHshments of the
organization and honor the legions of
American Red Cross employees and vol
unteers whose contributions save and im
prove the lives of millions of people.
Russ Pearson is the executive director of
the Wilkes-Alleghany chapter of the
A.R.C. He first started working with the
Red Cross in the Naval offices in 1995. He
says there are 57 chapters in NC, with
blood centers in Winston, Charlotte,
Greensboro, Durham, Wilmington, and
Asheville. In the Carolinas blood region,
109 hospitals use the blood graciously do
nated. He said that these 109 hospitals will
go through 2500 pints a day.
Russ said there are 4 programs used by the
A.R.C:
1. Blood collections like they do here on
campus. They try to use local nurses, and
two of those, at the last blood drive, were
graduates from WCC a few years ago.
They average 50 useable units from each
drive. They send the blood off to be tested
before use, and if there is a problem, they
throw it out and send a letter to the donor.
So if you know you have something like
diabetes, or if you’re anemic, then there’s
no need to donate because its not useable.
2: Disaster- single family fires are the
most common disaster in Wilkes county.
The Red Cross is there to help with the ini
tial impact. They give out vouchers for
food and clothing for the family to use.
Sometimes when needed they also give
vouchers for glasses, dentures and pre
scriptions.
3: Health and safety-They teach courses on
CPR and first aid.
4; AFES- the Armed Forces Emergency Ser
vice- (at this point in the conversation a little
pandemonium ensued when a donor passed out
and hit the floor) stores blood used for the emer
gencies encountered in battle.
He made it quite clear that the Red Cross is a
non-profit organization and they depend on vol
unteers. It is not a government agency, it is a
United Way agency. He also mentioned that you
can give blood every 56 days, so don’t be shy!!
International Mirth Month. To encourage peo
ple to use humor to deal with all the not-so-
funny problems of living.
National Women’s History Month. To cele
brate the contributions to U.S. history that
women have made.
THEATCE STU ^
DENTS
TRIP T€ CCOADH'Ar
By: Heather Dean
The Wilkes Community College theatre dept,
will once again be traveling to NYC to see
the St. Patties day parade, among other
things. Final preparations are being made this
week as they plan to depart on the 14th from
Greensboro. Among the list of things to take
in are: “The Phantom of the Opera” and
“Chicago” on Broadway. Going to several of
the comedy clubs, the Empire State Building,
and of course. Lady Liberty herself.
The Theatre department takes two trips a year
to New York. One for St. Patrick’s Day and
another one around Thanksgiving, the high
light being the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade.
Cost is usually around $475.00 per person
and is on a 4 per room occupancy. If you
would like to know more or are interested in
going on the next trip, contact David Rey-