cBlog Archives - Page 10 of 10 - Donate Blood

Loyal Donor, Hometown Hero

Mar 26, 2019 | cBlog, Donor Spotlight

Loyal Donor, Hometown Hero

While loyalty may be hard to find these days, The Blood Connection has found a proven loyal friend in Morris Gray, also known as “Mo.” He’s what some may call a super-donor. On March 24th, he donated blood for the 201st time at the TBC Easley Donation Center. For the past eight years, he’s donated consistently twice a month. So far this year, he’s already donated five times, bringing his donation total to 25 gallons! Morris’ donation story started back in 1996, when he gave blood for the first time with a coworker on a spur of the moment. That simple decision changed his life and has since saved countless others’ lives. Morris has certainly earned the ‘super-donor’ title; he can add it to his resume, right next to ‘lifesaver.’

Cancer patients are Morris’ inspiration for giving. He donates in honor of his friends who have battled the disease. He’s thankful to have the type of virus-free blood that cancer patients need, something he wouldn’t have known if he hadn’t donated years ago. Knowing his blood has the power to help patients in his hometown is what keeps him coming back. Morris also donates to feel more connected to his community. Since all of the blood TBC collects stays in the community, Morris is giving life to his fellow Upstate neighbors with every donation. He also gives his precious time to spread the word about the importance of giving blood. He’s a big advocate for donating at the TBC Easley Center, his home away from home.

“I enjoy the staff very much and their craziness – the good humor, laughter and the professional, caring attention they give me!”

It’s easy to celebrate a hometown hero like Morris. The Blood Connection is extremely grateful for his giving spirit and big impact he’s made in the community for the past 20 years. TBC hopes Morris’ story will inspire others to join an unstoppable team of loyal donors on a mission to save lives in the Upstate.

TBC Grows Team as Non-Profit Expands

Mar 18, 2019 | cBlog, Employee Hire

TBC Hires New Community Relations Reps

The Blood Connection (TBC) has added new positions to its staff to help with public awareness and community involvement. This year, the non-profit organization expanded into the Charleston area, growing its reach in the Carolinas.

Karen S. Wyman joins The Blood Connection with over twenty-five years of management experience, the last six as a blood bank Operations Manager. She will serve as the Regional Operations Manager for the Charleston area. She is originally from Massachusetts, and has called the Lowcountry her home for the last ten years. She has a bachelors degree in communications from Western New England University. Karen enjoys spending time with her husband, Peter and their children Madison, 17 and Alexander, 15. Additionally, she is active in many non-profit organizations across the Lowcountry.

Allie Van Dyke will serve as the Communications and Public Affairs Media Specialist for TBC. Her role consists of creating public awareness of TBC’s mission, maintaining relationships with donors and community groups, and collaborating with the marketing department to create consistent brand messaging. She will also handle local media requests. Allie brings with her three years of TV news reporting experience. She graduated from the University of Georgia in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, and two minors in organizational leadership and Spanish. She and her husband are originally from the Atlanta area.

TBC has also added five Community Relations Representatives to serve as the connections between TBC and the Upstate communities. CRRs are responsible for supporting the growth and collections of their donor Centers and help create, plan, and carry out center events. They will regularly attend community events and networking opportunities.

Shunda Jennings handles the Greenwood, SC Donor Center (341 Old Abbeville Highway). Before TBC, she worked as a Workforce Development Manager for SC Works. She is from McCormick, SC. She graduated from Piedmont Technical College in 2005 with an associate degree, then from Ashford University in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in organization management and leadership. She has two children, Jaden (13) and Kierra (7).

Janna Buckey is responsible for the Spartanburg Donor Center (270 North Grove Medical Park Drive). She was most recently the Director of Corporate & Foundation Giving at the Peace Center in Greenville. She is from Dayton, Ohio and now lives in Taylors, SC. She has a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Cincinnati. Her husband, John, is a voice over announcer and actor. They have two daughters and one granddaughter.

Monnie Whitson represents the Oconee Donor Center (1308 Sandifer Boulevard). She grew up in Greenville and worked in morning radio for about 30 years before joining TBC. She has a bachelor’s degree in communications from Winthrop University and a master’s degree in communications and leadership from Gonzaga University. Monnie is also a wedding officiant and “cat mom” to a sweet kitty named June Bug.

Phil Roper covers the Easley Donor Center (5116 Calhoun Memorial Highway). Over the years, he was a part owner of a PODs Upstate Franchise, a realtor, and a business partner for LithoGraphic Services. He is from Greenville and a graduate of the University of South Carolina. He is married to his high school sweetheart and has two children, not including his family dog, Ellie.

Daniel Levin handles the Greenville Donor Center (435 Woodruff Road). Familiar with the blood banking world, he joins TBC as a former Blood Drive Coordinator for OneBlood. He is from High Park, Illinois, and moved to Greenville in December of 2018 from South Florida. He and his wife have a two-year-old son and a baby on the way.

Florent Lebongo joins TBC as the Community Relations Representative at the Glenwood Donor Center in North Carolina (5925 Glenwood Ave). He used to work in university administration at MIT and Boston College. He mostly recently was the Director of Business Planning and Administration/CFO for Passage Home in Raleigh. He is originally from Yaounde, Cameroon. He has a bachelor’s degree in tax and a master’s degree in management. He is married with six children and six grandchildren.

The Community Relations Representatives would all love it if you stopped by the centers to say hi!

Educate Yourself: Sickle Cell Disease

Mar 14, 2019 | cBlog, Education

More about Sickle Cell Disease

Sickle Cell Disease has many faces. They’re probably ones you see every day. When you give blood, you’re helping someone live another day. That person may have Sickle Cell Disease, a sometimes painful disease that affects oxygen levels in the blood, causing major health problems. In addition to donating blood, educating yourself about SCD could help save someone’s life too.

The Stats

SCD is the most common inherited disease.
It affects 100,000 Americans a year
It affects millions of people worldwide who come from or have ancestors from the Middle East, parts of Africa, South America, Mexico, and India.
Hispanics are the second largest population that has SCD, behind African Americans.
500 people who live and work in Upstate South Carolina are affected with SCD.

Those stats may surprise you. That’s why it’s especially important to know about the disease and share what you know. The CDC provides this explanation for what happens in patients with Sickle Cell Disease: “Healthy red blood cells are round, and they move through small blood vessels to carry oxygen to all parts of the body. In someone who has SCD, the red blood cells become hard and sticky and look like a C-shaped farm tool called a “sickle”. The sickle cells die early, which causes a constant shortage of red blood cells. Also, when they travel through small blood vessels, they get stuck and clog the blood flow. This can cause pain and other serious problems such infection, acute chest syndrome and stroke.”

With that being said, sickle cells carry less oxygen and block blood vessels. A blood donation from someone without the disease, can be used to increase oxygen and free blocked blood vessels in a SCD patient. Red blood cells donated by African Americans are the best for SCD patients. Because SCD patients need blood with (and without) specific components, there is a constant need for African American donors. Patients require blood transfusions to prevent organ damage and to decrease pain. Pain is the number one reason SCD patients end up in the hospital. Unfortunately, there is no single best treatment for SCD. Treatment options are different for each person depending on the symptoms. Treatments can include receiving blood transfusions, maintaining a high fluid intake (drinking 8 to 10 glasses of water each day), receiving IV therapy (fluids given into a vein) and medications to help with pain.

Having SCD makes the patient anemic, a fancy word meaning red blood cells die early and not enough are left to carry oxygen throughout the body. Having anemia may make patients feel tired and weak. Infection or enlargement of the spleen, an organ that stores red blood cells, may make anemia worse. Blood transfusions are used to treat severe anemia.

A child gets SCD when he or she receives two sickle cell genes, one from each parent. According to the CDC, more than 95% of newborns with SCD in the U.S. will live to be adults. All newborns should be screened for sickle cell, even if they look healthy. If left undetected and untreated, SCD can lead to severe health problems and even death, early in childhood. People with SCD, especially infants and children, are more likely to experience harmful infections such as flu, meningitis, and hepatitis.

Get tested

It’s important to get tested for SCD. The disease is diagnosed with a simple blood test. Trait testing is free of charge through the Louvenia D. Barksdale Sickle Cell Anemia Foundation. Greenville Healthcare System’s Comprehensive Sickle Cell Disease Program is the first in the Upstate region to provide care for sickle cell patients of all ages under the same roof.

People with sickle cell can do these things to lower their chance of difficulties from the disease:
– Get regular checkups with their doctor.
– Follow treatments prescribed by their doctor, such as taking medication called hydroxyurea.
– Prevent infections by taking simple steps including washing their hands.
– Practice healthy habits like drinking 8 to 10 glasses of water per day and eating healthy food.

Is there a cure?

Yes, but the procedure can be risky. Permanent treatment requires a bone marrow transplant, or stem cell transplant, a procedure that takes healthy stem cells from a donor and puts them into someone whose bone marrow is not working properly. These healthy stem cells cause the bone marrow to make new healthy cells. Bone marrow or stem cell transplants are very risky, and can have serious side effects, including death. For the transplant to work, the bone marrow must be a close match, which can be hard to find.

How you can help

Reading through this article, you’ve already helped by learning about SCD. People in our community need us. If you’re able to donate blood, especially if you’re African American, please do so as soon as possible. SCD patients are waiting for the right blood products to be treated. TBC helps make the connection between that patient and a blood donor, providing life-saving blood. Because SCD is genetic, there is nothing that can be done to prevent it. As a community, we can help control SCD patients’ symptoms, so they’re not defined by their disease. For the many people who have SCD, that’s a powerful, freeing feeling.

Lifesaver League: Meet Us at the Mound

Mar 7, 2019 | cBlog, Events, Promotions

Meet Us At The Mound – Donate Blood!

Take me out to the ball game! In 2020, that wasn’t an option – but BASEBALL IS BACK! That means – our Lifesaver League Blood Drives are back too! If you’d like to root root root for the home team with us, we’ll meet you at the mound/blood drive on the dates below!

*Click on the red letters below to make your appointment.

Greenville Drive Blood Drives :

Asheville Tourists Blood Drives:

Durham Bulls Blood Drives:

Charleston RiverDogs Blood Drives:

Myrtle Beach Pelicans Blood Drives:

Our mission is so important that we can’t strike out. A batter gets three chances before he’s out. Sometimes patients only have one chance to live another day. That chance could come from a loyal blood donor, like you! We get really fired up when baseball season comes back around. It’s the time honored tradition that American families have adored for decades. And it’s our time to ask our communities to step up to the plate, and donate blood.

The Lifesaver League is a partnership with local baseball teams. It all started about ten years ago with the Greenville Drive. We hit it out of the park so much that when TBC expanded into North Carolina, we pitched the idea to the Asheville Tourists and Durham Bulls. Boom, Lifesaver League was born. Now we’ve expanded in Charleston and have the Charleston RiverDogs on board. These teams really are in a league of their own; a league that represents the true sense of teamwork to bring someone home. Not to home base…home to their family. One blood donation has the power to do that for three people.

In the same way baseball fans have a sense of camaraderie every game, TBC’s mission is to engage the community to donate blood and save lives. Teaming up with these teams has truly been a home run. Baseball fans get the chance to become donors and life savers, impacting people in their communities. We need more Allstar players on our team.

Spartanburg Churches Host Blood Drives

Feb 28, 2019 | cBlog, Events, Host Spotlight

Spartanburg Churches Host Blood Drives

The “Ecumenical Blood Drive” group is an influential collaboration made up of seven churches in Spartanburg County: Trinity United Methodist Church, St. Paul’s Catholic Church, Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, Episcopal Church of the Advent, Westminster Presbyterian Church, First Presbyterian Church, and St. John’s Lutheran Church. Together, they host blood drives at their churches to support area hospitals. At their most recent blood drive this month, the churches collectively donated almost 200 pints of blood, which has the potential to save almost 600 lives. Over the past year, the group helped save approximately 6,000 lives through its other blood drive donations.

“The joy of knowing that every ounce donated directly impacts the lives of those receiving is a monumental driving force that serves as encouragement for me to influence as many people as possible to donate,” says Beth Cecil, spokesperson for the group.

The drives are held on the same Sunday multiple times a year and are open to members and nonmembers of each church. Cecil likes to think of donating as a form of mission work, a way to inclusively serve the community. “Not everyone can travel globally or make time to volunteer locally during working hours. However, through giving blood, everyone has the opportunity to be involved in outreach mission work. No check has to be written, no time lost from work or time taken away from family…There are no barriers, only the love for one another to work together for our fellow man.”

TBC’s President and CEO, Delisa English, recently presented to current and new members of the group at First Presbyterian Church in Spartanburg, thanking them for their continued efforts.

“The Blood Connection is immensely honored to partner with the Spartanburg Ecumenical Group providing the opportunity for their members to impact lives of those in their community through the gift of a blood donation. This is a unique example of how a collaboration like this can be both successful and impactful,” says English.

The cold, winter months along with the inevitable flu season make the blood supply particularly vulnerable. As donations decline, the need for blood tends to rise. TBC’s mission is to ensure all hospital partners have the blood supplies needed for patients at any given time. On average, it takes more than 500 blood donations per day to maintain an adequate blood supply. English says an unexpected trauma can require 20 pints of blood or more. If there happens to be multiple traumas that require blood, the community supply could be dramatically reduced.

Cancer patients are usually the number one recipients of blood, but blood is also needed for burn victims, premature infants, car accident victims, heart surgery patients and organ transplant patients.

Those patients and future ones rely on groups like the Spartanburg Ecumenical Blood Drive. Their success is proof of a strong love for their community. TBC is so appreciative for the group’s huge impact and hopes other organizations will take the challenge to collaborate too.

Faith-based organizations also have the opportunity to receive grants.

Vidant Health’s Partnership with TBC

Feb 25, 2019 | cBlog, Hospital, News

Vidant Health Partners with TBC

GREENVILLE, N.C. – The Blood Connection is now the blood provider for Vidant Health in Pitt County.

“We are honored to be able to support the health of people in this region, and we are grateful for each new opportunity to connect donors with recipients,” said Delisa K. English, TBC President and CEO. “We want eastern North Carolina to join us by donating blood that will serve friends, family, and neighbors. For the victim of a car crash to the cancer patient who depends on platelets, the need for volunteer blood donations is great. When you give blood to The Blood Connection, you are ensuring that the people of this community will have the blood products available to save their lives.”

TBC urges all eligible donors to donate, to help ensure that hospital needs for blood are uninterrupted. Although TBC is specifically requesting O-negative blood donations, all blood types are needed.

Brian Floyd, Vidant Health’s COO said, “I’m excited to share that The Blood Connection is now the primary supplier of blood and blood products for Vidant Health. Ultimately, Vidant’s objective is to have a self-sustaining supply of blood and The Blood Connection is committed with us to achieve this goal.

“Vidant is always focused and committed to quality, and The Blood Connection’s high standards in quality and service, were key factors in forming this new partnership. The Blood Connection is accredited by the American Association of Blood Banks, the premier accreditation service for organizations involved in blood supplies, and is licensed and regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Blood is collected through bloodmobiles, portable field units and fixed donation sites; all testing and processing takes place at a state-of-the-art biologics process center in Piedmont, SC. The Blood Connection’s laboratory services also help us meet the precise needs of patients.

“We are excited and supportive of The Blood Connection coming to eastern North Carolina and we look forward to working together for patients throughout the region.”