North Cook News

State Rep. Tom Morrison (R-Palatine) wants to be seen by his constituents as an example of the attitude he feels is needed to overcome the coronavirus crisis.

“There are a lot of different ways that people can help and it’s important to just pick something and do what helps people,” Morrison told the North Cook News. “Whatever you can contribute right now is critical to the big picture.”

In Morrison’s case, his contribution has centered on donating blood and leading the charge in recruiting others to do the same.

“I make a regular practice of being an individual volunteer, but hearing the U.S. (surgeon) general recently talk about the need to maintain adequate blood supplies has only raised my commitment,” Morrison said. “I think to do so right now is absolutely critical, especially when you stop to think about how many local drives that have probably been canceled.”

Morrison said he recently drove to a local church for one of the regular drives he donates to, only to arrive there and find the church shuttered and the event canceled.

Overall, Morrison said blood collections are down by 60% and those numbers could still be on the rise.

In the face of it all, the veteran lawmaker vows to fight on.

“Our church is hosting a free blood drive next week where we’re hoping that people will really turn out,” he said. “We’re also encouraging others to conduct wellness checks on neighbors and the errands, run errands, whatever it takes so that the person most at risk can stay at home and hopefully out of harm’s way.”

The Food and Drug Administration has established that donating blood is a safe process during the current crisis because all procedures occurring in highly regulated and sterile environments and staffers are now taking added cleaning precautions in safeguarding the facilities.