The Smokies baseball team and Medic are joining forces to help stop the summer blood donation shortages. From now until Labor Day, donors will receive a limited edition Tennessee Smokies T-shirt, a coupon for a free Chick-Fil-A sandwich and a chance to win tickets to Smokies home games to spark interest in blood donation.
This cooperation hopes to raise awareness of the need for blood.
“It gives an incentive for people who are donating blood,” said Lauren Chesney, the Smokies’ director of community relations.
There are fewer donations during the summer months because Medic cannot travel to school or company blood drives during the summer, said Mike Prowell, associate director of Medic Regional Blood Center.
“During the summer with vacations, the increased accidents and emergencies and the lack of donors donating blood, it is a critical time for us,” he said.
The Smokies cooperation has helped, but donations are down and the center needs to collect between 325 and 350 units of blood a day, according to Prowell. In order to accomplish this goal, Medic needs to get word out to students during the summer months and wants everybody to donate blood to keep the blood supply up.
“If we can get people to donate blood on a regular basis there would never be a blood shortage. 75 percent of the population is eligible to donate blood, but only less than 5 percent actually do,” Prowell said. “All types of blood are needed, and especially O-, as it can be accepted by any blood type.”
Besides the fact that donors are helping save lives, as each donation can save up to three lives, donors also receive Medic’s family blood coverage. A pint of blood donated to the Medic Regional Blood Center will cover the blood supply processing fee of the donor, as well as Internal Revenue Service dependents, at any U.S. hospital for one year. Additionally, donors receive a cholesterol level evaluation.
Donors must show a positive identification, be at least 17 years old and weigh at least 110 pounds in order to be eligible.
For more information, call Medic Regional Blood Center at 524-3074.
