During summer months the need for blood remains high but donations often do not. To encourage donors to keep giving blood through the critical summer months, Lifeblood will be holding its seventh annual Donor Fest event June 6-11.
Donor Fest is a week-long blood drive blitz, and this year’s goal is to collect more than 1,963 units of blood and platelets in honor of the year that the community’s local non-profit volunteer blood bank was founded. All five area donor centers have extended hours to accomodate this blood drive.
The week will be capped by a community event that celebrates all volunteer blood donors, recipients and their families. Participants are invited to wear red and gather at 9:30 a.m. June 11 on Saint Benedict at Auburndale High School’s football field (8250 Varnavas Dr, Cordova).
The celebration will include a free Chick-Fil-A breakfast, blood drive, balloon animals, face painting and a photo booth.
At 11 a.m. participants will gather in a teardrop shape to form a “human blood drop” in an attempt to break the current U.S. record for similar formations.
All Lifeblood donors who give blood or platelets between now and June 14 will receive a red limited-edition 2016 Donor Fest T-shirt to wear to the event.
Donor Fest is celebrated in conjunction with World Blood Donor Day, June 14. World Blood Donor Day serves to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products from volunteer donors.
On this special day Lifeblood thanks voluntary, unpaid blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood.
The Mid-South is home to a unique medical community with a Level 1 trauma center, pediatric hospital, children’s cancer research hospital, and many other health facilities that consistently need blood throughout the year.
For information about Donor Fest and to see each donor center’s extended hours, visit DonorFest.org or call (901) 522-8585.For more information or to schedule an appointment, visit lifeblood.org or call 1-888-LIFEBLOOD.
