Each July, constituents gather at the Southcentral Alaska Camp Meeting in Palmer, Alaska. Although one of several camp meetings throughout the state, the July gathering is the largest, with members coming north from Juneau and from as far away as St. Lawrence Island in arctic Alaska. After several days of intense preparation, camp meeting opened Tuesday evening, July 18, 2017, with keynote speaker John Bradshaw from It Is Written.
In addition to dynamic speakers and exciting youth programming, each year the Alaska Conference members support their community by inviting the Blood Bank of Alaska to visit campus. Preparations for the blood drive began by sending posters and bulletin announcements to churches to encourage members to preregister to donate. In addition, emails were sent to prior year donors reminding them of the upcoming event. During camp meeting, announcements are made each evening along with direct, person-to-person contact by volunteer Janice Enquist to fill the donation schedule.
The conference has included the blood drive as part of its campus activities since 2005. This year, we are happy to report that 31 people registered to donate — 17 were new donors — with a total of 20 units collected. Sent to communities throughout the state, these units have the ability to impact 60 patients in the hospital.
We were blessed to have many out-of-state visitors who took time out from their busy schedules to donate this year as well. Thank you to our Adventist family for supporting the Alaska community with your time and donations. A special thanks to those to attempted but were not able to donate.
Jesus not only gave His blood for us, He gave His life. The least we can do is give a little blood.
The Blood Bank of Alaska prepares to receive donors.
A willing participant shares the gift of life.
The Blood Bank of Alaska prepares for the next donor.
More than 20 units were collected during the 2017 blood drive.
