Kent Mummert Exceeds 500 Blood Donations

Mississippi College educator Kent Mummert became the first person in the state to exceed 500 blood donations. And he doesn't plan to stop giving.

"There are still plenty of people that need help," Mummert said Tuesday after setting the record with his 501st donation.

Mummert, 52, is a free-lance graphic designer who owns his own business. He's an adjunct instructor in the MC art department.

The Clinton resident made his first donation as an MC student in 1976. "I felt my one would change the world," he recalled back when he was an MC freshman. More than 30 years later, the MC graduate continues to be happy to give the gift of life.

His latest donation to Mississippi Blood Services came with a little fanfare. "The Clarion-Ledger" covered the event, and so did "The Clinton News," Jackson TV station WJTV, among others, also brought reporters to the scene in Jackson.

Susan Ates, a spokeswoman for Mississippi Blood Services, says the 52-year-old Mississippian makes it a habit to give platelets every two weeks.

MBS operates seven drawing stations across the state with distribution hubs in Jackson, Oxford and Greenville. Founded in 1979, MBS supplies blood and blood products to 49 hospitals in Mississippi. And they serve other hospitals in Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee.

MBS has regular donors, but Mummert is truly exceptional. "He's very, very faithful," Ates says in a story posted Tuesday on clarionledger.com

Mississippi Blood Services conducts several blood drives a year at Mississippi College's Clinton campus.