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Community Corner

Donors' Reward: Homemade Pie

Dozens of donors congregate at White Lake Presbyterian Church to give blood for their October blood drive.

Four times a year, faithful blood donors line up in the hallway at White Lake Presbyterian Church to offer a life-saving donation and enjoy a piece of homemade pie.

“We usually do a blood drive in February, June, August and October,” said Debbie Lennis, office administrator at White Lake Presbyterian.

The church has offered its building as a blood drive site for the American Red Cross for more than 15 years. It staged its most recent drive on Oct. 6.

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“It’s one of the missions that we do. We help out the Red Cross by making the building available and we have our pie makers make pie,” she said. According to Lennis, White Lake Presbyterian was the first site in the area to offer a piece of homemade pie to donors.

Michelle Sadler, a member of White Lake Presbyterian, donates the majority of the pies for each drive. This year, Sadler baked eight pies for donors to enjoy after making their donation.

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“She makes cheesecake, coconut, banana cream and pecan pies,” Lennis said. “I have donors call to make appointment to give blood and reserve what kind pie they want. People will say, ‘Save me a piece of pecan pie!’”

The quarterly blood drive often brings many of the same donors, although each one can have first-time participants.

“This last time we got 56 pints of blood. Our goal was 50,” Lennis said.

Maggie Bentley, a White Lake resident for more than 20 years, offered her third donation at White Lake Presbyterian after her daughter encouraged her to start giving blood.

“I hope to think I’m helping somebody else,” she said. “If I were lying in a
hospital somewhere, I would hope someone donated blood to help me.”

Carole Laphan, a Highland resident, is a longtime blood donor.

“I give as often as I can,” she said. “You can only give every 56 days, but every donation can help three people. It’s very important and it’s about giving back.”

Andrea Voorheis, coordinator of the drive for five years, said that White Lake Presbyterian's drive generally exceeds expectations in terms of blood donated.

White Lake Presbyterian’s next blood drive is slated for February 2012. An exact date has not been set.


*Eligibility for Donation:

  • Be healthy.
  • Be at least 17 years old, or 16 years old with parental consent.
  • Weigh at least 110 pounds.

*Prior to donation, donors are encouraged to:

  • Be sure to drink plenty of fluids the day of your donation.
  • Wear something comfortable.
  • Wear clothing with sleeves that can easily be rolled up above the elbow.
  • Maintain a healthy level of iron in your diet before donating.
  • Bring a list of medications you are taking.
  • Bring a friend.


*The donation process takes about one hour and 15 minutes. Depending on several factors, including the donor’s health history and attendance at the blood drive, donation times may vary.

*According to the American Red Cross

Visit www.redcrossblood.org to make an appointment to donate blood now at a nearby location.


Coming up at White Lake Presbyterian:

Craft show and bake sale

Oct. 14, 2 p.m.-8 p.m.
Oct. 15, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

Proceeds from the event benefit White Lake Presbyterian’s women’s group. The group offers outreach in the White Lake community.

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