by Kelly Rogge, KCKCC
Kansas City Kansas Community College is combining Breast Cancer Awareness Month with collecting life-saving blood donations.
KCKCC is holding a blood drive in conjunction with Breast Cancer Awareness Day Oct. 14. The blood drive is from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Room 2325 on the KCKCC main campus, 7250 State Ave.
During the awareness event, there will be vendors, club sponsors, food and a variety of opportunities to support Breast Cancer Awareness and the Community Blood Center. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
“KCKCC wants to help educate the students, staff and Wyandotte community members about breast cancer detection and prevention. Early detection and prevention is key in treating breast cancer,” said Courtney Caldwell-Smither, coordinator of Student Health at KCKCC. “We have set a goal of collecting 100 units of blood to show our support in the fight against breast cancer.”
Anyone who is at least 16-years-old, healthy and weighs at least 115 pounds is eligible to donate blood. In addition, blood donors must allow eight weeks between whole blood donations and provide photo identification prior to donating. Additional information on medical eligibility requirements can be obtained by calling 1-800-245-7035 or 816-968-4009.
Caldwell-Smither said it is important for KCKCC students and faculty as well as the community to get involved because Wyandotte County leads the nation in Stage 4 breast cancer deaths. She said if more women are screened early, cancer could be detected before it becomes Stage 4 thus improving survival rates drastically.
“Less than one-third of women in Wyandotte County get screened for breast cancer. That is a pretty shocking statistic, and we want to change that,” she said. “At KCKCC, we are hoping that events like this help spread the word and more women get screened. We have several local organizations that help provide free screenings to women who are uninsured. Early Detection Works is just one of those organizations who can help women between the ages of 40-64, who are uninsured and meet financial criteria enroll in breast screening services. They will be at our event enrolling women for breast screens.”
For those interested in donating blood, there are a couple of ways to register. To make an appointment online, visit https://www.esavealifenow.org/index.cfm?Sponsor=KCKSCOMCOL. Appointments can also be made by contacting Caldwell-Smither at 913-288-7683 or by email at [email protected].
“Our hope at KCKCC is that women will leave our event with some knowledge about the risks of breast cancer, early detection and what community resources are available to help,” Caldwell-Smither said. “If one woman gets screened who would not have, or one person donates blood who would not have, then we will feel like our event was a success.”
Kelly Rogge is the public information supervisor for KCKCC.