Published on Monday, April 28, 2025 in Blog
Pat Powers (KIIC Albia, Iowa) Interview with Damon Griffiths of ImpactLife.
Our very own Damon Griffiths sat down with Pat Powers from KIIC in Albia to learn more about the Blood drive ImpactLife was hosting at Albia Community High School in Albia, Iowa. Check out this video. Thank you to KIIC for providing us with the video.
Prefer to read the story? Check out the full transcript below.
Interview Transcript
Pat Powers
Pat powers here. News director for KIIC, I'm at Albia High School in the B Gym. Got Damon Griffiths here with ImpactLife. They had this blood drive scheduled here at Albia Community School District. Damon how important is it to continue to get blood and blood donors?
Damon Griffiths
Well, to be honest with you, blood is always going to be something that we are in need of. Everyone is going to need blood at some point in their life, more than likely, and blood is something that is needed every single day. So it is very important for us to make sure that we are able to keep our community supplies as stocked as we possibly can, especially with those rarer types, because you never want to be in a situation where you are in need of blood or someone that you care about is in need of blood, and they do not have the kind that you need.
So this is it's always going to be work in progress. It's always going to be something that we are working towards getting more and more donors to do. And it's a very rewarding task to see more and more people embracing blood donation and giving back to the community in that way.
Pat Powers
You know another thing about blood donors, they like to keep track. You've got people that get to a gallon [?] You got people at ten gallons, you a little higher up as well. Talk about that pride that they feel for giving blood.
Damon Griffiths
Well, after a certain point you start to see how much blood that you donate adds up and how many lives that has the potential to save. Just for example, one pint of blood has the ability to possibly save three lives. So if you imagine over time donating a pint of blood every 56 days or as close to it as you possibly can, the amount of people that you can potentially save just by spending 45 minutes to an hour of your time really starts to add up.
And then when you think about that number, just in the scale of just you, that is already an incredible achievement. So just to see it built over time and to see that number of potential life saved climbing and climbing, it's just it's such a rewarding feeling and it's such a sense of pride for so many donors and organizations themselves as well.
Pat Powers
Damon Griffiths here at Albia High School, the B Gym, Impact Life has got that blood drive going on. You had a, time frame of around three hours here at Albia. The the numbers aren't extremely high, but yet they are beneficial.
Damon Griffiths
Yes. And when we focus on collecting blood, yes, we set a goal of how many units we would like to see collected at any of our organizations, any of our blood drives. But the reality is, any blood that we can collect is invaluable. You cannot put a price tag on it. It is something that someone is going to use somewhere.
And it may be the difference between life and death. So yes, we set a goal, but we are happy to collect as much as we can in any circumstance where people will allow us to host.
Pat Powers
Off air you indicated how many times you've been to this high school. Talk about that.
Damon Griffiths
Well, we come to this high school pretty regularly, I believe we've come around three times a year. We usually have a drive in the early fall time as kind of students and teachers are coming back to school, and then we have a drive that's kind of just after the winter holidays usually, which is kind of as they're coming back from those holidays, they're kind of raring to go in that sense.
And then the Spring drive, which we are at right now is their last drive of the year. So we're kind of tying that up. That's when we start looking towards the seniors who are graduating. [Seeing] how many of them have earned their Student Impact award? How many units that they collected throughout the school year? That's kind of when we start to compile that and start, you know, announcing that to the schools and saying, hey, this is how much of a contribution you've made to your community.
Pat Powers
The gift of blood here at Albia. ImpactLife is a part of this. And, Damon one last question. You know, this is something that ImpactLife continues to do. Talk a little bit about what might be next for ImpactLife in terms of going to a community and getting another blood drive set up.
Damon Griffiths
Well, ImpactLife is always going to do their best to find as many partners as they can, and we are always open to working with different organizations who may be interested in hosting their own blood drive. They may be interested in sponsoring a blood drive in the community. We will work with any organization who wants to kind of explore those options.
We also have a [blood] donor center in Ottumwa, [Iowa] where even if you are not able to donate at say, an Albia [Iowa] community drive, you can actually donate in your center in Ottumwa and credit that somewhere, and then credit that towards a drive in Albia. If you wish to do that. So the options are various and I'm willing to, you know, talk about that with anyone who is interested.
Pat Powers
Damon Griffiths here with ImpactLife the blood drive that's going on at Albia Community High School. I'm Pat Power for KIIC.