The American Red Cross partnered with the Pottstown Branch of NAACP to host a community blood drive at the Ricketts Center last week as part of an initiative to grow the number of blood donors who are Black in order to help more patients with sickle cell disease.

Sickle cell patients, the majority of whom are Black and/or of African descent, rely on Black blood donors to provide lifesaving transfusions as part of their treatment. This is because patients who require regular blood transfusions, like those with sickle cell disease, may develop an immune response against blood from donors that is not closely matched to their own.

Shawn Morris, a community volunteer leader with the Delaware Valley Chapter of the Red Cross and former vice president with NAACP’s Pottstown branch, got the ball rolling.

“We asked Shawn to talk about her volunteer experience with the Red Cross at a meeting, and we thought, hey, we should partner for a blood drive,” shared Paula Corson, chair of NAACP’s Membership Committee.

The drive was successful, collecting 32 units of blood (33% over the goal), which will help up to 96 patients in our region and beyond. Units of blood from donors who self-identify as Black are marked with a special blue tag designating it as a possible match for a sickle cell patient.

In addition to hosting the drive, NAACP volunteers provided information about sickle cell disease to donors during the event, as well as to community and elected officials leading up to the drive.

Shawn was surprised to learn that Pottstown was the first NAACP branch in Pennsylvania to hold a Red Cross blood drive.

“This branch has paved the way for a lot of good things to happen in the community, and we’ll continue to do that,” she said.

To learn more about the Pottstown NAACP, visit pottstownnaacp.org.