By Alan Van Ormer
Tribune editor

Diana Lightner, who is a mortgage processor in Dell Rapids, has given 28 pints of blood since the Community Blood Bank started in 1976.
On Thursday, Lightner was the 4,000th blood donor in Dell Rapids.
“I continue to give because I can,” Lightner said. “By giving blood, you can help others.”
Dell Rapids was one of the first communities that did blood drives when the blood bank started in 1976.
In 1992, the mobile units started. The community blood drive is a joint venture between Avera McKennan and Sanford Health and includes 29 hospitals in the region.
According to Ken Versteeg, who is the executive director of the Community Blood Bank, those 4,000 donors will impact up to 12,000 lives.
“Based on community size, no one is close to 4,000 donations,” Versteeg said.
“Participation in Dell Rapids is phenomenal.”
Dell Rapids is a top 10 community in blood donations.
The community averages 60 blood donors each of the four visits each year, according to Linda Hines, who is a lab technician at Dells Area Health Center Hospital and who has been the local blood drive coordinator.
“The people are just generous,” she said.