Aida Nauman is happy to give back to the community.

RANCHO MURIETA, CA (MPG) - Given the severe shortage of blood nationwide, Rancho Murieta residents did their part to help at the Jan. 22 Community Blood Drive.

The Rancho Murieta Women’s Club sponsored the quarterly event that was held at the Rancho Murieta Community Church on behalf of Vitalant, which is the local blood bank.

Of the 88 participants that Vitalant registered, four were first-time donors. The staff collected 59 whole blood donations and nine Power Red donations, which count as two donations, for a total of 77 pints of blood. There also was one plasma donation.

Bonnie Kirschner, currently the women’s club president, has been the lead organizer of the blood drive since 2018. She was very pleased with the January results and hopes it bodes well for the rest of the year.

Kirschner also pointed to last year’s results. “We had 280 successful donations in 2023, and each one can save three lives – That is 840 lives,” she said.

Kirschner had special thanks for residents who have chosen to donate their blood and all of the volunteers who helped make it happen. She also praised the women’s club for putting on the blood drive for more than 30 years and the Rancho Murieta Community Church for stepping up at the end of the COVID pandemic to be the new donation site.

Kirschner said Ron Conway has been the “set-up coordinator” for transforming the church’s worship area into a blood donation center and back again for each blood drive. Volunteers from Scout Troop 633 and the VFW Post have pitched in to help.

Kirschner also thanked her co-chairs. “Patti Keating who has been part of it since we both started this journey in January 2018, has done a tremendous job with publicity, organizing flyers, being at the blood drives, and assisting the donors with Vitalant’s new ‘Fast Track’ system which has stymied many of us many times,” Kirschner said. “ Cheryl Cannon and Sharen McGowan joined us in 2023 to help with finding and coordinating volunteers in many areas such as greeters, bakers, hospitality, phone callers, and more.”

The next blood drive will be held Monday, April 29, at the church.

The worship area at the Rancho Murieta Community Church is transformed into a donation center for the Rancho Murieta Community Blood Drive on Jan. 22.