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<p>EDWARDSVILLE&#8212;There&#8217;s nothing morbid about Dunkin&#8217; Donuts. The coffee and baked goods shop is filled with the inviting aroma of, that&#8217;s right, coffee and baked goods. The roast retailer&#8217;s aesthetics hardly scream &#8220;we want your blood&#8221;&#8212;they&#8217;re so muted they hardly scream anything at all.</p><p>Instead, Dunkin&#8217; Donuts and the American Red Cross Northeastern Pennsylvania Region politely asked for blood outside during Dunkin&#8217; Donuts and American Red Cross&#8217; August kickoff event in Edwardsville on Aug. 3.</p><p>According to Colin Riccobon, external communications manager for American Red Cross NEPA&#8217;s blood services arm, this is a crucial time for blood and platelet donation.</p><p>&#8220;Typically during this time of the year blood donation declines for a variety of reasons, whether it&#8217;s vacations or high school and college blood drives aren&#8217;t going on,&#8221; Riccobon said. &#8220;We encourage people to choose one day during the summer to make a blood or platelet donation (and) help make the blood supply remain stable. When you look at the support we&#8217;ve received from Dunkin&#8217; Donuts here today and throughout the month of August&#8230; I hope this motivates some more people to roll up their sleeve and make a difference.&#8221;</p><p>Claude Webb is the district manager of five Dunkin&#8217; Donuts locations in the area, and he&#8217;s happy to help the community. Dunkin&#8217; Donuts is adding incentive to the act of donating&#8212;they&#8217;re offering to exchange coffee and donuts for your platelets and blood.</p><p>&#8220;Our owners try to do anything that helps the community,&#8221; Webb said. &#8220;Northeast PA will have different blood drives in different areas the whole month of August. The next one close to one of our stores is this Friday in the West Pittston area at the Wyoming Area Fire House. The blood drives and the partnership (that provides) the coupons for a free doughnut or free medium iced coffee is going on this whole month.&#8221;</p><p>Riccobon said they set goals for each drive, but that&#8217;s not what motivates him&#8212;the need for blood is constant, because accidents and medical emergencies don&#8217;t take holidays off.</p><p>&#8220;Patients depend on donors every single day, so we have an event like the one here in Edwardsville and hope that it attracts attention and lets people know what&#8217;s going on for the month,&#8221; Riccobon said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t normally look at the number because you never know. You never know when something is going to happen (and) whether it&#8217;s going to be a family member, friend, coworker (or) yourself who&#8217;s going to need blood.&#8221;</p><p>The American Red Cross of NEPA and Dunkin&#8217; Donuts are holding a number of drives throughout Luzerne county during the month of August (see sidebar), and each offers vouchers for those who donate good for a free doughnut or medium iced coffee. Riccobon said that B-, A- and O- blood are in demand.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Nurse tech Vicki Fitser checks on Mukuadee Thompson of Edwardsville as he gives blood Monday morning outside the Dunkin&#8217; Donuts in Edwardsville. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_TTL080915BloodDrive11.jpg</photo0><caption0>Nurse tech Vicki Fitser checks on Mukuadee Thompson of Edwardsville as he gives blood Monday morning outside the Dunkin&#8217; Donuts in Edwardsville. </caption0><photoCredit0>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_TTL080915BloodDrive21.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The American Red Cross held a blood drive outside the Dunkin Donuts in Edwardsville Monday morning. Shown are the mascots for Dunkin&#8217; Donuts and the Red Cross along with Michelle Rosar, account coordinator for AMP. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_TTL080915BloodDrive21.jpg</photo1><caption1>The American Red Cross held a blood drive outside the Dunkin Donuts in Edwardsville Monday morning. Shown are the mascots for Dunkin&#8217; Donuts and the Red Cross along with Michelle Rosar, account coordinator for AMP. </caption1><photoCredit1>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Edwardsville chain kicks off month-long blood drive initiative</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Gene Axton</p><p>gaxton@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Upcoming blood drives:</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Aug. 7, 1 - 6 p.m.</p><p>West Wyoming Hose, 926 Shoemaker Avenue, West Wyoming</p><p>Aug. 10, 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.</p><p>Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 1111 East End Boulevard, Wilkes-Barre</p><p>Aug. 12, 10:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.</p><p>Jewish Community Center, 60 South River Street, Wilkes-Barre</p><p>Aug. 17, 12:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.</p><p>St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, 116 Hughes Street, Swoyersville</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Aug. 17, 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Hazleton Chapter House, 165 Susquehanna Boulevard, West Hazleton</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Aug. 19, 1 - 6 p.m.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Freeland American Legion, 523 Centre Street, Freeland</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Aug. 20, 1 - 6 p.m.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Nuremberg Weston Fire Hall, 456 Hazle Street, Weston</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Aug. 20, 1 - 6 p.m.</p><p>Dallas American Legion, 730 Memorial Highway, Dallas</p><p>Aug. 21, 1:30 - 6:30 p.m.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The Laurel Mall, 106 Laurel Mall Road, Hazle Township</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Aug. 24, 2 p.m. - 7 p.m.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Queen of Heaven Parish, 750 North Vine Street, Hazleton</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Aug. 25, 1 - 6 p.m.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Mountain Top Family Church, 209 South Mountain Boulevard, Mountain Top</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Aug.26, 1 - 6 p.m.</p><p>St. Patricks Church, 580 Elmira Street, White Haven</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Aug. 28, noon - 5 p.m.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Thomas P. Saxton Medical Pavilion, 468 Northampton Street, Edwardsville</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Gene Axton at 570-704-3943 or on Twitter @TLArts</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Dunkin Donuts’ wants your blood: Chain kicks off month-long blood drive initiative