Lifesaver League: Meet Us at the Mound

Lifesaver League: Meet Us at the Mound

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

Spartanburg Churches Host Blood Drives

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

Vidant Health’s Partnership with TBC

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.”