Your red blood cells begin to run low. There are not enough of them to carry enough oxygen throughout your body. You feel weak and lethargic. Then the cold sets in.

This may seem like lines from a horror story, but it is a reality for many dialysis patients.

“Dialysis patients struggle with anemia, which means that their blood counts are low and they traditionally are always cold,” said Crystal Tucker, clinical manager for Fresenius Kidney Care Golden Triangle.

This holds a personal resonance with Sandra Williams as well. Her father, Andrew Glenn Sr., was a dialysis patient.

He passed away 10 years ago, and she decided to do something to honor his memory this year. 

Williams is the president of the Northside Missionary Baptist Church Missionary Society. For one of the group’s projects, she chose to help the clinic that helped her father more than a decade ago.

“One of our projects for this year is to support the patients that are receiving dialysis,” she said. “We decided that we would donate throws for those patients.”

The group collected blankets and donated them to the clinic on Oct. 27.

“We wanted to do something to try and give back to others,” she said. “The members of the missionary group donated, church members donated and my sister and I donated. We donated 20 in my dad’s name. We gave about 60 throws in all.”

The clinic has great need for the blankets, and it was grateful to receive them.

It has about 100 patients, and each is given a blanket when they begin treatment.

“They love the blankets,” Tucker said. “They bring them with them to treatment every time they’re here because it’s cold in the facility and they are cold in general. They are very much appreciated.”

However, the number of blankets needed is higher than the number of patients due to a number of factors.

“We need probably a minimum of 200 blankets per year,” Tucker said. “We have patients who come in constantly for new admission. We have patients who pass. We have patients who forget their blanket or misplace it or get blood all over it because they are on dialysis. So, we have a need for blankets all throughout the year. We greatly appreciate everything that (Williams) and the ladies of that church did in donating those blankets.”

All blankets donated to the clinic must be new.

She also added that anyone with questions or interested in becoming a donor is encouraged to reach out to her at (662) 327-9208.

Continuing to give

Williams said that the missionary group is not stopping with this project.

Currently it is preparing for Thanksgiving by collecting canned goods to donate to needy people in the community.

Members also collected 85 pairs of glasses and donated them to the Lions Club of East Columbus. The glasses were taken to Jackson and refreshed for people who can’t afford to buy glasses.

Continuing the trend of blankets, the group will also be donating blankets to elderly homes and the homeless shelter for Christmas.

“We are going to continue doing things like that to help uplift people in the community who are going through different things in their lives,” she said.