OCEAN CITY, Md. — Every year, people show up to the Roland E. Powell Convention Center, roll up their sleeves and give back. This year, they made history.
The Blood Bank of Delmarva surpassed 15,000 units of blood donated between its summer and winter blood drives in Ocean City on Thursday — a milestone decades in the making. Ocean City has hosted a winter blood drive for 27 years, with the summer drive added to the tradition six years ago.
For Salisbury native John Massey, the annual event is about more than donating blood.
"It's almost like a social event," Massey said. "When I was sitting in the chair today, there were two other guys that I knew from the local community, and we just sat here and passed the time and caught up."
Massey, who is a captain at Tipsy Tiki Charters, even brought a coworker along this year.
“A friend of mine that I work with, Jess, she and I were out on the boat on Tuesday, and I mentioned to her that I was going to be giving blood today, so I brought her along with me,” Massey said.
Jessica Balzer has lived in Ocean City for less than a year and had been looking for a way to give back to her new community. She didn't find the event on a calendar — she found it on the water.
"We were cruising by the convention center with a really sweet group of four people, and he was like, oh, hey, if anyone wants to donate blood tomorrow, I'm going to be here at 10," Balzer said. "And I was like, I've been looking for this. Of course I'll show up."
The timing of the milestone couldn't be more critical. Blood Bank officials say summer is one of the hardest times to keep the blood supply stocked — donations drop while the need rises.
"Right now we're seeing about a 10 percent decrease in donors that are shelling out to donate," Kristin Frederick, vice president of operations at the Blood Bank of Delmarva, said. "And that's because the school year's ending, vacation season [is] starting. But what happens at the same time as those go down, is that the usage of blood is higher because of trauma season — you have more people on the roads, more people on the highways, more people outside doing activities in the summer."
For those who missed Thursday's drive, there are more chances to give. The Blood Bank of Delmarva plans to host drives at local breweries and coffee shops across Maryland and Delaware this summer.
