The residents of Naples Lakes Country Club in East Naples are preparing to roll up their sleeves to give the gift of life on Monday, March 7 during the community’s 50th blood drive. Since they first began hosting blood drives with the NCH Community Blood Center almost twenty years ago, the highly benevolent residents have registered 1,041 participants, donated 918 units of blood, and have saved 2,754 lives. Each pint of donated blood is broken down into 3 components to benefit up to 3 local patients. The March 7 event is scheduled from 1:30-4:00 pm at Naples Lakes Country Club located at 4748 Naples Lakes Boulevard on Collier Boulevard and is exclusive for Naples Lakes residents.
Sustained and prolonged blood shortages continue nationally and locally making it hard for hospitals to have adequate inventories. Industry officials attribute the shortages to the ongoing pandemic and historical declines in donor participation. According to Laura Rosen, spokesperson for NCH Community Blood Center, “Local donors are our only hope to ensure our hospitals have adequate inventories. Communities like Naples Lakes are critical to our success. We applaud the efforts of our local donors and the Naples Lakes Community for their sustained support. We simply couldn’t save lives without them.” All blood products collected by NCH Community Blood Center remain in the community to supply area hospitals.
Naples Lakes Country Club has been hosting blood drives since 2003 and generally conducts three blood drives each season with an average of 70 pints of collected blood each year. During their most recent drives in November 2021 and January 2022, the NCH Community Blood Center collected 39 units of blood from the residents, saving 117 lives. This season the community plans to host four blood drives.
The community’s HOA Manager, Barb Anderson, has been personally donating since 1992, giving at various locations, including Naples Lakes. She has donated over 7.5 gallons. Barb was instrumental in coordinating the Naples Lakes Country Club Blood Drives for 13 years with Dali Capullo, HOA Assistant, for the last three years.
As another example of Naples Lakes’ philanthropic strength, their recent 2nd Annual NLCC/Home Base SWFL Golf Tournament raised approximately $40,000, to benefit Home Base SWFL, a facility dedicated to healing invisible wounds for veterans and their families.
Naples Lakes’ Arnold Palmer Signature Golf Course was the last course renovation reviewed by Arnold Palmer before his passing. The community’s $4.1million Cabana Cafe is scheduled for completion in April.
About Naples Lakes Country Club
Located at 4784 Naples Lakes Boulevard, Naples Lakes Country Club (NaplesLakesFL.com) is a private 490-acre gated golf course and country club community where “bundled” golf membership is included with every residence. It is the only Arnold Palmer Signature Golf Course in Collier County. The community contains more than 200 acres of lakes and protected nature preserves and has been designated as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary, one of only 114 in Florida.
For more information, visit NaplesLakesFL.com. Twitter | Facebook
