With just a few weeks until what would have been Louden Lofgren's sixth birthday, his family is planning the fifth year of a blood donation event to raise awareness of the need for blood in the community and to keep Louden's memory alive.
From 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25, the Lofgren family is asking people to donate blood at the ImpactLife Muscatine Donor Center. An appointment to donate blood can be made by following the QR code to the sign-up link at the Loving Like Louden Facebook page at facebook.com/LoveLikeLouden.
Louden would have turned 6 on Jan. 28.
"This will be the fifth blood drive we have hosted in honor of Louden," Olivia Foglesong, Lowden's aunt, said. "This is the third birthday blood drive. We started after Lowden passed away -- something our family became aware of is the need for blood in our community. Louden had received quite a few blood transfusions after he had surgery and then, ultimately, he passed away from lack of blood."
Louden was 2 years old when he died in April 2021. The surgery Louden had undergone created other issues and his hemoglobin levels went low. He had multiple blood transfusions. He died 10 days after the initial surgery from blood loss.
To honor Lofgren's life, Foglesong came up with the idea of a blood drive, and soon began working with her father, state Sen. Mark Lofgren, and ImpactLife to make it a reality. She and her family are hoping to not only fill Muscatine's blood supply, but to also raise awareness.
In 2021, the first year of "Love Like Louden", the Lofgren family was able to raise exactly 300 blood donations for ImpactLife, a number they were both surprised by and extremely grateful for, Foglesong said. The family also did a 5k run to raise money for ImpactLife.
In 2022, the family did a kids fun run and raised money through shirt sales.
This year will be the third birthday blood drive. In 2024, over 50 blood donations were raised during the event. Foglesong said the event has filled up for the last few years. While there is no set goal for the drive, the Lofgren family hopes to beat the totals from the last few years.
"The goal is just to raise awareness about blood donation and people who need additional blood," Foglesong said. "It's something that can help others and you never know when you are going to need that or someone you love and care about is going to need that. That and to keep Louden's memory alive."
5 common nutritional deficiencies that could be affecting your day-to-day life Getting the right nutrients Vitamin B12 Vitamin D Calcium Magnesium Protein 5 common nutritional deficiencies that could be affecting your day-to-day life