Special to The Messenger

April 17, 2000 8 PM

April 19 is the Big Day.

People who donate blood are community heroes. They know that each pint of irreplaceable fluid can save up to three lives. They know that keeping the Nation’s blood supply at an adequate level is just good citizenship. They care about their neighbors and are leaders in their communities.

In the Troy area on April 19, the American Red Cross and the Troy Bank & Trust Company are adding yet another reason for you to roll up your sleeve for the Red Cross blood drive.

"Bunnies for Babies" will assure that each ailing or infirm child in the Troy area will get a personal visit from the Easter Bunny.

Every time a donor gives a pint of blood, he or she will sign a special card that will be draped around the neck of a cuddly little bunny. And when the Red Cross blood drive is over, each personally-signed bunny will be delivered to children who are hospitalized or ill in the Troy area.

To participate, you should call for an appointment to minimize the amount of time your donations will take. Please call Dianna Lee at 566-4000 to schedule your "Bunnies for Babies" donation.

The drive will take place at the Troy Bank & Trust building from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, April 19. Then the bunnies will be delivered to the Edge Medical Center, Charles Henderson Health Care Center and other locations following the drive.

The American Red Cross Gulf Coast Blood Services Region is one of the first in the nation to offer the latest and most sophisticated technologies called leuko-reduction, which removes white cells from the donated blood. The sophisticated process reduces even further the tiny chance a patient might have an adverse reaction to donated blood. The Red Cross now conducts the most intensive blood testing in history.

Anyone is good health over 17 years of age and weighing 110 pounds can help their fellow Alabamians by donating that most precious gift, the gift of life. The American Red Cross provides blood and blood products to more than 100 hospitals in Alabama. For more information, you may call Ralph Fowee at the American Red Cross in Troy at 566-0632. Donations usually take less than an hour and each pint of blood can save up to three lives.

All blood types are needed but there is a definite need for donors with type O and type B blood types. The Red Cross strives to maintain a 3 day supply at all times. Not only does you donation help those in immediate need of transfusions, but cancer patients, those suffering from kidney disease, leukemia, and hepatitis depend on the Red Cross for help.

The Red Cross is also on hand to provide assistance to disaster victims in the Troy area as well as throughout the nation, provide CPR training to individuals, provide water safety training, and fill several other community needs.