Prior Lake, MN – The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community will hold a holiday blood drive on Tuesday, December 13, 2011, from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Dakotah! Sport and Fitness. The public is invited to participate.

“We decided to extend the length of our blood drive by one hour to allow more people to have the chance to donate blood,” said SMSC Wellness Administrator and Community member Joanna Bryant.

Blood donors are desperately needed. Typically during the holidays blood donations decline while demand increases.  It only takes one hour to give one pint of blood and that pint could potentially save as many as three lives. All blood types are needed, but especially Type O, the universal donor. In order to give blood you need to be healthy, weigh at least 110 pounds, be at least 17 years old, and not have donated blood in the last 56 days. Other health matters are discussed as part of the health history and brief examination.

To help encourage donors during the holiday season, Memorial Blood Center is raffling off a tropical vacation to a donor who donates blood at any of the Memorial Blood Center drives in the month of December 2011. 

Please make an appointment to give blood by calling the SMSC Wellness Coordinator at 952-233-2965. A limited number of walk-ins will also be accepted.  

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community has sponsored blood drives for more than 24 years. An employees-only blood drive will also be held the same day at a different location.  

About the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community

The SMSC utilizes its financial resources from gaming and non-gaming enterprises to pay for the internal infrastructure of the Tribe, including but not limited to roads, water and sewer systems, emergency services, and essential services to its Tribal members in education, health, and welfare. The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community has a charitable giving program which comes from a cultural and social tradition to assist those in need.

Over the past 16 years, the SMSC has donated more than $229.5 million to Indian Tribes, charitable organizations, schools, and Native American organizations. The SMSC has also made more than $396 million in loans to other tribes for economic development projects. Since 1996 the SMSC paid more than $7.5 million for shared local road construction projects and an additional $16.7 million for road projects on the reservation. The SMSC has also paid $12.7 million to local governments for services and another $5 million for other projects.

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, a federally recognized Indian Tribe in Minnesota, is the owner and operator of Mystic Lake Casino Hotel, Little Six Casino, Mazopiya, Playworks, Dakotah! Sport and Fitness, The Meadows at Mystic Lake, Shakopee Dakota Convenience Stores, and other enterprises on a reservation south of the Twin Cities.