Dairy MAX Treats Blood Donors On World Blood Donor Day– June 14
Thanks to Dairy MAX and Hiland Dairy, blood donors Tuesday, June 14, will receive ‘a pint for a pint’ at all Oklahoma Blood Institute (OBI) donor centers. Each who gives will receive a pint of milk, a half-pint of ice cream, milk T-shirt and a chance to win a free gallon of Hiland milk each week for a year.
This is the fourth year Dairy MAX and Hiland Dairy have partnered with OBI to encourage people to save local lives through blood donation. Anyone 16* or older who is generally healthy can typically donate blood and is urged to stop by the Tulsa Donor Center at 4601 E. 81st St.
To schedule an appointment, call 877-340-8777, or visit obi.org. Each donor will also get a voucher for two free tickets to the Tulsa Zoo and a zoo-themed T-shirt.
This year, Dairy MAX and Hiland Dairy join Oklahoma Blood Institute in celebrating World Blood Donor Day. For each donor who forgoes the zoo shirt, OBI will do its part to promote safe, volunteer blood donation worldwide by contributing to Global Blood Fund. Although most Americans never realize it, a lack of blood for patients who need it is an everyday occurrence in many countries.
In Africa, for instance, some 100,000 women die in childbirth each year. The majority are due to bleeding because blood is simply not available to them. In the world’s poorest countries, children under the age of five are major blood users. Most have contracted malaria and enough safe blood is not in supply.
“Oklahoma Blood Institute is blessed with generous donors who have taken their selfless act of blood donation a step further, going beyond our borders with this support of Global Blood Fund,” John Armitage, M.D., Oklahoma Blood Institute president and CEO, said.
Armitage noted that some third world country’s lag as much as 50 years behind the blood transfusion systems and infrastructure we enjoy in the United States. “There is such a lack of the basic set-up for blood drives that donors may sit in lawn chairs while giving or several donors may be crowded onto one reclining donor bed.”
Global Blood Fund focuses particularly on enabling blood services in developing countries to nurture that most precious of resources – their blood donors – that can become the cornerstone of a save and ample blood supply.
Global Blood Fund has provided technology, supplies, training and other forms of support to countries in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and South America. The nonprofit has provided specialized instruction and resources for medical teams, agency leaders and donor recruiters.
Armitage said that this year’s World Blood Donor Day theme, ‘Blood connects us all,’ should remind us all of how reliant we are on each other when nothing but blood will do. “So many more Oklahomans could save local lives than do,” he said, “and we hope more step up to give. On this special day, we are also mindful of our blessings – that blood supplies are kept adequate here thanks to loyal donors – and we must raise awareness to the immense needs internationally.”
* 16 year olds must weigh at least 125 and provide signed parental permission; 17 year olds must weigh at least 125 pounds; 18+ year olds must weigh at least 110 pounds
