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Avery Dennison trying to break record in blood drive donations

PHOTO PROVIDED Marc Cottman, plant manager of Avery Dennison, in Mill Hall, is shown donating blood at a recent American Red Cross blood drive.

By JOHN RISHEL

jrishel@lockhaven.com

MILL HALL — Avery Dennison representatives are shooting for high hopes with their next American Red Cross blood drive event on Tuesday, Dec. 11.

“We usually target around 40 to 45 units of blood donated per event. This time we have been given an ambitious goal of 54 units, which would be an Avery Dennison personal record. We will need help from the community to reach this milestone,” said Laurie Cantolina, lab leader at Avery Dennison.

The Mill Hall Avery Dennison company has been organizing two American Red Cross blood drives every year since 2016.

“We are excited to build interest and gain support for our blood drives,” said Marc Cottman, plant manager of Avery Dennison.

“We already have about 50 percent of the appointments filled for this event; they filled up in the first day. A lot of employees here, and at nearby Croda, another chemical plant, have stepped forward to offer blood donations. Community outreach is a big focus of ours, it is a critical thing for us,” he said.

Avery Dennison also does a volunteer potluck for each of the blood drive events, with a mixture of hot and cold foods available, and they organize cook outs for the spring blood drive events. All food is also donated by the employees and provided to the volunteers and donors.

“We invite the public to come on in and get a full meal. We rely on word of mouth and hope that knowing this happens twice a year for us will help garder that support,” he said.

The Mill Hall Avery Dennison has collected 213 units of blood since it began hosting American Red Cross Blood Drives in 2016, an amount that could impact or potentially save the lives of 639 people.

Blood drives at Avery Dennison are scheduled at six-month intervals and are open to the public, though anyone coming in to donate blood has to process through the facility’s security building before coming onto the property.

“We hope to reach out to a broader group this time around, and hit this record. The most units we have collected at this site during one event is 46. We will be giving this our best effort,” Cottman said. “We have 130 employees on site, including temporary workers. Typically, a good amount of them, and even their spouses, will come out and donate. We hope more of the public will come out to the next one. Anything we can do to increase that number … we are not bashful. All are welcome.”

The Avery Dennison blood drives are posted on the American Red Cross website, redcrossblood.org, and appointments can be scheduled through the website as well, noted Cantolina.

“Just search by zip code and it will be listed,” she said.

In 2017, the Mill Hall site received a Certificate of Recognition from the American Red Cross for its commitment and dedication to the American Red Cross Premier Blood Partner Program.

Avery Dennison Corporation is a global materials science and manufacturing company specializing in the design and manufacture of a wide variety of labeling and functional materials. The company’s products, which are used in nearly every major industry, include pressure-sensitive materials for labels and graphic applications; tapes and other bonding solutions for industrial, medical and retail applications; tags, labels and embellishments for apparel, and more.

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