Overflow Church with the help of Mississippi Blood Services will host a blood drive Sunday, February 23, from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Overflow Church is located at 222 Railroad Drive Southeast Magee MS.
The drive will honor Rosalind Anderson Bernoudy, who passed away in 2018 after a long battle with sickle cell. There was a blood shortage during Rosalind’s last stay in the hospital. If blood had been readily available it would have increased her chances of surviving the sickle cell crisis.
Sickle Cell Disease is a term used for a group of hereditary disorders of the red blood cells, affecting approximately one out of every 400 African-Americans in the United States.
According to the MS Sickle Cell Foundation, approximately 1,000,000 African Americans live in Mississippi, which means at least 2,500 African Americans in Mississippi are living with sickle cell disease at any one time.
For thousands of Americans, living with SCD means a lifetime of painful episodes, blood transfusions and frequent trips to the hospital. These treatments can often cause complications that are just as bad as or worse than the effects of the disease itself.
SCD affects red blood cells. The presence of hemoglobin S, an abnormal hemoglobin, causes these blood cells to grow in the shape of a sickle and makes it difficult for them to pass through small blood vessels. When these vessels become blocked, oxygen has trouble reaching the tissues since hemoglobin is an oxygen carrying molecule.
Bernoudy died at the age of 31 and is survived by her husband, Willie Bernoudy, and their three children. Her parents, Herbert and Deborah Anderson, are members of Overflow Church and have organized this annual blood drive to honor their daughter and raise awareness. The blood donated on Sunday will be used to save lives in a number of different situations. Rosalind’s family has made it their mission to raise awareness on the significance of donating blood. The Anderson and Bernoudy family is asking everyone’s support in helping save lives on February 23 at Overflow Church.
Mississippi Blood Services ask that donors bring ID, and suggest that all donors eat at least four hours within giving blood. Donors are also encouraged to drink plenty of fluids prior to and after making a donation.
