The message has been repeated numerous times: The best thing we can do for others during this pandemic is stay in. As sensible as the message is, the urge to do more grows stronger with every additional day of isolation. But what, other than donate money?

My nephew unwittingly gave me an idea the other day.

Ten of us were having our second weekly “family reunion” via Zoom. Matthew talked about how long and busy his workdays are at the Heartland Blood Center in Aurora. He mentioned the critical shortage of platelets, the fragments of blood that stop bleeding. Donated platelets need to be used within five days.

“Giving platelets — that’s what I can do,” I thought, feeling instantly better.

Blood banks assure us that it’s safe to donate now. Donation chairs are spaced the recommended distance apart, and steps to control infection are ramped up. Donors are screened, including temperature checks, to make sure they are well.

Blood donations are way down as people isolate during the coronavirus pandemic, causing a dire shortage of blood supplies. Blood is needed for millions of Americans with serious injuries and blood disorders and for survivors of major surgeries. Cancer patients regularly need transfusions of platelets, which help blood to clot, to prevent life-threatening bleeding. Low platelet count is a major side effect of cancer treatment.

Matthew alerted us that giving platelets is more taxing than giving whole blood, not because it is painful but because it is long. He spent almost two hours in the donation chair. He has his job to return to, but during this crisis, what better thing do retirees like me have to do with two hours?

During a platelet donation, whole blood drawn from an arm goes into a machine that extracts the platelets and returns the other blood components (plasma and red and white cells) to the donor. The cycle of extraction and return is repeated several times, with a single donation session providing platelets for as many as three patients. With check-in procedures and recovery afterward, the process takes up to three hours.

For those wanting to help more than once now, an upside of platelet donation is that you can donate every seven days, up to 24 times a year. Those who give whole blood have to wait eight weeks to make another donation.

Anyone interested in donating platelets, other components, or whole blood can search for a nearby donation location through the websites of the American Red Cross, the American Association of Blood Banks, or America’s Blood Centers. Appointments are needed for platelet donation. I made an appointment at Vitalent (formerly LifeSource) in the Thompson Center on the earliest available date.

Before Matthew mentioned the need for platelets, I had looked into whether the Greater Chicago Food Depository needs help packing grocery boxes. Indeed it does, but it is recommending that people older than 60 not volunteer. (It’s interesting that we’re discouraged at the same time retired health care workers are being welcomed back into hospitals — another example of the sometimes contradictory messages about this virus.)

My church is continuing its food mission, providing takeout meals in partnership with a restaurant. Like blood centers, it is following strict protocols to keep both volunteers and those served safe. The number of volunteers at each event is limited. I haven’t been asked yet, but if I am, I expect I’ll go.

I’m not trying to be heroic, but I live alone and don’t have an underlying health condition. There is no one I would bring the virus home to.

Helping both blood banks and food pantries has a selfish motivation, too. I’d have justifiable excuses for getting out of the house.

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WHEN WE COMPLAIN OF ISOLATION . . .

A cartoon by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Steve Kelley has a spot-on message when we complain of isolation now. An elderly military veteran says, “I shipped overseas for 33 months, marched through muddy fields and jungles, and dug trenches under enemy fire. I did it for the sake of other Americans.” Sitting across from him, the other person replies, “I’ve been stuck mostly at home for two weeks, forced to eat takeout and binge-watch series on Netflix. I don’t know how much more I can take.”

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ANTI-TRUMP QUOTATIONS: 108TH IN AN ONGOING SERIES

“In a [NIH] video that leaked online last week, Dr. [Anthony] Fauci was seen telling colleagues at the National Institutes of Health that he regularly made suggestions for the president’s prepared remarks before the daily briefings, but that Mr. Trump ‘almost always’ ignores them.”
— New York Times