DOVER, Del. – Dover Mayor Robin Christiansen issued a proclamation recognizing Blood Bank of Delmarva’s (BBD) efforts to maintain a robust blood supply during January and February, which are months that usually pose challenging, wintertime collections given inclement weather and seasonal illnesses that often cancel appointments.
Acting Dover City Council President Gerald Rocha invited Mayor Christiansen, City Councilwoman Tricia Arndt and Councilman Brian Lewis to present the proclamation to BBD Communications Specialist Tony Prado at the Dover City Council meeting held Monday, February 24 at Dover City Hall. Rocha also asked City Clerk Andria Bennett to read the proclamation into the record.
“Whereas, more than 50 years ago, January was designated as National Blood Donor Month, as an annual observance meant to honor voluntary blood donors and encourage more people to donate blood at a time when blood supplies are historically low,” the proclamation read, in part. “…Whereas, in our community the need for a diverse blood supply is constant, but the supply is not; making volunteer blood donors the foundation for ensuring a safe and stable supply of blood products is available to help meet the medical needs of patients nationwide. …Now, therefore, I Robin R. Christiansen, Mayor of the City of Dover, Delaware do hereby proclaim January 2025 as National Blood Donor Month.”
Added Mayor Christiansen, “Thank, Madam Clerk, and thank you, Mr. President. On behalf of myself and members of Dover City Council, and the citizens that we serve, it’s a pleasure to present to you this belated proclamation. But, every day is blood donor day. And, I want to thank Councilman Lewis and Councilwoman Arndt for being present at the celebration that [BBD] had.”
“Thank you, Mayor; this is quite an honor,” Prado said. “You’re right. Every day is blood donor day. Wintertime is a tough time to collect blood. It’s important to recognize the need for blood on a daily basis, and we really appreciate you doing this, Mayor, and as pointed out, Councilwoman Arndt and Councilman Lewis are some of our donors.
“I also want to take the liberty of saying that we are celebrating Black History Month and, last week, we presented the second annual Dr. Charles Drew Lifesaver Award to a wonderful lady named Roslyn Whitehurst who since 1998 has donated 15 gallons of blood, and she has helped 116 sickle cell patients. The statistics do not lie; one out of three African American donors is a match for sickle cell patients.”
Prado also reported BBD’s latest donor ethnicity figures to Mayor Christiansen, who had asked last year about BBD’s Native American outreach. The good news was that Native American donors doubled in size from 0.1% in 2023 to 0.2% of total donors in 2024, African Americans stayed relative flat at 5.5%, Hispanics increased slightly to 2.9%, Asian Americans increased slightly to 2.4%, and Caucasians remained virtually unchanged at 87.6%.
He also noted that BBD was grateful to be represented by Dover City Council and other local governments, including Kent County Levy Court and the Delaware General Assembly, where Senator Nicole Poore and Representative Sophie Phillips led passage of the National Blood Donor Month Concurrent Resolution. State Rep. Lyndon Yearick, a blood donor at the Dover Donor Center, was among those who unanimously voted for the resolution.
