This year marks the 14th “Giving Together” program hosted by Lifeblood. Through the program, Arlington, Bartlett and Bolton high schools are working together to collect blood donations through Nov. 5. The drive began Oct. 22.
During that time, the schools strive to collect as many blood donations as possible through a combination of individual donors at Lifeblood donor centers and blood drives at the high schools.
YX Genomics and 8th Day Software have contributed $4,000 in grant funds, and that amount is expected to increase. The grant money is to be equally divided among the three schools if the three schools together collect 300 or more units of blood during the time period allotted. The money received is to be applied toward each school’s mathematics and/or science programs.
To help gather these donations, each school will be holding its own blood drive during a two-week period.
- Arlington High School held a blood drive on Oct. 24.
- Bartlett High School’s drive will be on Friday, Oct. 28.
- Bolton High School’s drive will be on Monday, Oct. 31.
“It’s exciting to see the students come together and take responsibility to ensure their community has a safe and reliable blood supply,” said Lifeblood’s Executive Director, Danny Garrick. “It’s moving to see donors make the commitment to donate at a young age and continue to do so after they graduate.”
In 2015, “Giving Together” garnered nearly 500 units of blood from donors at these three high schools. This helped 1,500 patients in area hospitals.
“YX Genomics is proud to sponsor the Giving Together program,” said Christine Essary, director of employee and strategic development. “It’s truly a ‘win’ for everyone involved. The blood donated by the students is essential for hospitals in the area. In turn, we look forward to the schools meeting their goal so we can contribute to the improvement of their math and science programs.”
In addition, family members, friends and donors can designate their donation to a high school when they donate at any Lifeblood donor center across the Mid-South now through Nov. 5. For center locations, visit lifeblood.org or call (901) 529-6320.
About Lifeblood
Located in the heart of the Memphis medical district (1040 Madison Avenue), Lifeblood is the Memphis region’s only non-profit volunteer blood center. Lifeblood is the leading provider of blood and blood components to area hospitals, supplying more than 100,000 units for local patient transfusions each year.
Lifeblood is a member of America’s Blood Centers, an alliance of community-based, non-profit blood centers. Through its neighborhood donor centers and full schedule of mobile blood drives, Lifeblood provides opportunities to donate blood throughout the year. In 2013, Lifeblood celebrated 50 years of service and 4 million lives impacted by volunteer donors in the community. In 2015 Lifeblood joined Blood Systems, one of the nation’s oldest and largest non-profit transfusion medicine organizations.
For more information or to schedule an appointment, visit lifeblood.org or call 1-888-LIFEBLOOD.
