In the wake of Friday’s early morning massacre at an Aurora movie theater, many Coloradans are asking how they can help — a lot more than Dianna Hemphill has ever seen.
Hemphill, spokeswoman for the Bonfils Blood Center, said the community’s reaction to the tragedy has been “overwhelming.”
Bonfils’ blood donation centers — including six in the Denver metro area — have filled all of their appointment slots for the rest of the month. Potential donors are encouraged to call the appointment hotline to donate when more spots open up, however.
“We’ve never, ever booked out,” Hemphill said. “This is very unusual for us. It just shows that Coloradans want to give back when they see something really horrible happen in their community.”
While she said the outpouring of support is great, she added that she hopes to see this streak continue into August so Bonfils can try to replenish supplies depleted by treating shooting victims.
“The (recent) support is tremendous, but we really have to credit our donors who come in on a regular basis,” she said. “It’s really the days and weeks following that we’ll need support.”
Jay Connors, manager of the Children’s Hospital Colorado Blood Donor Center, echoed Hemphill, saying that it’s truly “the blood on the shelves that saves lives and keeps up prepared.”
As a smaller operation in Children’s Colorado, the blood donor center exists to serve the needs of the hospital and uses Bonfils as a backup.
“We just want to send an enormous thank you to the donors,” Connors said, adding that the center is booked through next week.
The Children’s donation center is in the hospital and is open Monday through Friday. Most of Bonfils’ locations are open Monday through Saturday, but the Westminster center also accepts donors on Sundays, as do some of the 10 mobile drives that visit local churches.
The centers hope for more O negative, A negative and platelet donations, Hemphill said. For more information on making an appointment, call the Bonfils appointment line at 303-363-2300 or visit or .
Erin Udell: 303-954-1223, eudell@denverpost.com
