Dec 22, 2015 2 min read

If you’ve scratched everything off your holiday gift-giving list, consider adding one more item: blood.

Arlene Curry of Cecil Township has been coordinating Christmas Eve blood drives for more than 15 years at American Legion Post 793, and the one this Dec. 24 takes place from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

“I’m just a very community-minded person,” Curry said about her efforts. “I volunteer for everything.”

Longtime township residents can vouch for her on that count. She is a member of the Post 793 Auxiliary and is past president of Cecil Township No. 3 Fire Department Auxiliary, while also serving as treasurer of the township’s parks and recreation department. Plus she volunteers to lay wreaths at National Cemetery of the Alleghenies.

While serving as Cecil postmaster for 20-plus years, she organized such activities as sending get-well cards to regular patrons and accepting donations to provide Christmas baskets for needy families locally.

The blood drives at the legion, she said, usually attract three or four dozen donors, including several who take time from their busy holiday schedules to return year after year.

“It’s amazing that people dedicate and set aside some time for us on Christmas Eve,” Megan Lakatos, Central Blood Bank marketing specialist, said. “That’s a great thing.”

The Green Tree-based blood center, which serves about 40 hospitals in Western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia and eastern Ohio, estimates someone requires blood every two seconds.

“The need for blood, all types of blood, is constant,” Lakatos said. “It’s important that people who can donate do donate.”

Those who donate through Dec. 31 will receive a “tacky holiday T-shirt,” which has proved to be a popular item since Central Blood Bank introduced it last year.

For more information and to make an appointment, visit centralbloodbank.org or call 866-366-6771. Walk-ins also are welcome on the day of the Post 793 drive at 3323 Millers Run Road, Cecil. Donors are required to provide identification.