Veteran’s donation mission inspires TBC

Veteran’s donation mission inspires TBC

TBC Helps Veteran Donate Blood in Every State 

Steve Harrell is a true example of what commitment looks like. As a U.S. Army Veteran, he knows a thing or two about dedication and service. And now he’s on a mission to donate blood in every state. On the surface you may think, ok…that’s doable. That’s just donating 50 times right? But the whole thing will take about 7 years! Not your typical road trip… But nonetheless, Harrell hopped into his trusty RV and took off on a journey riding all over the nation, saving local lives along the way.

“You might be walking down the street one day and that person right there…you may have saved his or her life,” said Harrell.

Harrell clearly has a servant’s heart. Now retired, he says he’s driven by his passion to give back to the communities that make up the great nation he served in the Army. And on one of the most patriotic days of the year, Veteran’s Day, Harrell landed in Arden, NC to donate blood at the TBC donation center there. His goal to only give to community blood centers is what led him to TBC.

“If you want to be a hero…you can do that right here at home,” Harrell told TBC. “People that give blood are heroes too, they’re saving lives every time they donate.”

With the help of TBC, Harrell checked the 10th state off his list: North Carolina. He donated again in January with TBC in South Carolina to check the box for state #11, as one of the first donors to give at the new North Charleston Donation Center. The Jacksonville, Florida native spends his time between donations getting to know veterans in the community, since he can only give blood every 56 days. 

TBC is honored to be a part of Harrell’s mission. Because of that inspiration, TBC vowed to give $10 for each center donor who gave on Veterans Day to the Wounded Warrior Program, an organization that works with local companies to hire veterans. Thanks to donors who gave on 11/11 like Harrell, TBC plans to donate $3,380 to the organization! 

To those who have served, thank you. To our blood donors, thank you. To Steve Harrell, thank you for including TBC in your mission. Our communities are better because of all of you!

Each blood donation has the power to save up to three lives. Together as a community, help show these local heroes and their families that we support them too.

When donors give local with The Blood Connection, it stays local. TBC is the primary blood provider for local hospitals, which means when anyone there needs blood, TBC supplies it. While trauma is the most obvious reason for blood usage, cancer patients are usually the number one recipients of blood products. Donations are also needed for burn victims, premature infants, surgeries, and those with blood disorders, to name a few. When community members share blood, healing happens, and families remain whole. 

Blood donors must be healthy, weigh at least 110 pounds, and be 17 years old or 16 with written parental consent. Our centers are open Monday-Friday 7am-7pm and Saturday-Sunday 7am-5pm. Click here to make an appointment or to call a specific center.

Request A Custom Package

10 + 4 =

Platelet & Cryo Pricing

Package 1

$700

Platelets - 4 day shelf life

Package 2

$400

Pooled Cryo - 180+ day shelf life

Blood Type Inventory & Pricing

Package 3

$195

3 Week+ Shelf Life

45 - O+, 30 - A+, 14 - B+, 5 - O-, 5 - A-, 1 - B-

Package 4

$195

3 Week+ Shelf Life

45 - O+, 30 - A+, 14 - B+, 5 - O-, 5 - A-, 1 - B-

Package 5

$120

3 Week+ Shelf Life

100 A+

Give Mo’, Get Moe’s

Give Mo’, Get Moe’s

Spice Up a Life: Donate Blood!

If you’re a Moe’s fan, you’ve probably heard of Mo Monday (the best day of the week, are we right?) Well TBC is making Mo Mondays even better! Donate blood with The Blood Connection and you’ll get your fave Moe’s meal for FREE, 2 weeks in a row. We’re not kidding.

For the entire month of September, TBC and Moe’s Southwest Grill are working together to getting people fired up about blood donation. Partnerships like this are essential to the community’s blood supply. Moe’s enthusiasm to partner with TBC has helped the blood center reach new donors and save more lives! That just goes to show that teamwork really does make the dream work.

The Give Mo’ Get Moe’s promotion runs September 9th – September 30th. Donors who give blood at any TBC center on any Monday in September will receive a $20 Moe’s gift card! To find a center near you, click here.

On September 23rd, 11 Moe’s locations will host a blood mobile for a collective blood drive from 4-8 P.M. Blood donors will receive a $20 Moe’s gift card there too. After donating, walk right into your local Moe’s and enjoy a free dinner, a thank you for spicing up/saving someone’s life!

 

Participating Locations:

449 East Main Street  Spartanburg, SC
6005 Wade Hampton Blvd, # A Taylors, SC 
500 Haywood Rd Greenville, SC 
3144 N Main St Anderson, SC 
360 Merrimon Ave Asheville, NC
168 Shenstone Blvd  Garner, NC
10760 Wakefield Commons Dr  Raleigh, NC
1410 E Broad St Fuquay-Varina, NC 
Belle Hall: 612-A Long Point Rd Mt Pleasant, SC 
9514 Dorchester Rd #106 Charleston, SC 
214 Azalea Square Blvd Summerville, SC 

The Moe’s promotion at TBC donation centers will be held on 09/09, 09/16, 09/23, 09/30. Donor gifts are while supplies last. Mobile drives are only on 09/23.

When donors give blood with The Blood Connection, it stays local. TBC is the primary blood provider for local hospitals, which means when anyone there needs blood, TBC supplies it. While trauma is the most obvious reason for blood usage, cancer patients are usually the number one recipients of blood products. Donations are also needed for burn victims, premature infants, surgeries, and those with blood disorders, to name a few. When community members share blood, healing happens, and families remain whole. 

Blood donors must be healthy, weigh at least 110 pounds, and be 17 years old or 16 with written parental consent. Our centers are open Monday-Friday 7am-7pm and Saturday-Sunday 7am-5pm. Click here to make an appointment or to call a specific center. 

Request A Custom Package

10 + 6 =

Platelet & Cryo Pricing

Package 1

$700

Platelets - 4 day shelf life

Package 2

$400

Pooled Cryo - 180+ day shelf life

Blood Type Inventory & Pricing

Package 3

$195

3 Week+ Shelf Life

45 - O+, 30 - A+, 14 - B+, 5 - O-, 5 - A-, 1 - B-

Package 4

$195

3 Week+ Shelf Life

45 - O+, 30 - A+, 14 - B+, 5 - O-, 5 - A-, 1 - B-

Package 5

$120

3 Week+ Shelf Life

100 A+

300th Donation: Danny Howard

300th Donation: Danny Howard

Loyal donor gives for the 300th time

Yep, 300 times…that’s dedication. 

The Blood Connection is proud to celebrate Danny Howard as a loyal donor, who donated for the 300th time on May 1st, 2019 at the Woodruff Road Donation Center.  Born and raised in Greenville, SC,  Danny has been giving back to the community he calls home for more than 30 years. He started donating as a high school student (shout out to Greenville High), and the rest is history.

Get this–Danny has donated 37 gallons! That means he’s helped save A LOT of lives! As if that wasn’t enough, Danny has shown his loyalty by giving whatever we needed at the time, from red cells, to plasma, to platelets. He’s a true selfless hero.

“I want to give back to those who need it…it’s just something to give back to the community.” 

It’s that simple, he says, giving back is the right thing to do. Danny is also a proud graduate of Clemson University, where he worked until his recent retirement. Now, he encourages his co-workers, neighbors, and others in his community to give back with him. He’s sharing life in more ways than one.

Danny is the perfect example of a local lifesaver who cares about his community. We’re lucky to have him as a donor in our Upstate community. Way to go Danny! 

Request A Custom Package

2 + 6 =

Platelet & Cryo Pricing

Package 1

$700

Platelets - 4 day shelf life

Package 2

$400

Pooled Cryo - 180+ day shelf life

Blood Type Inventory & Pricing

Package 3

$195

3 Week+ Shelf Life

45 - O+, 30 - A+, 14 - B+, 5 - O-, 5 - A-, 1 - B-

Package 4

$195

3 Week+ Shelf Life

45 - O+, 30 - A+, 14 - B+, 5 - O-, 5 - A-, 1 - B-

Package 5

$120

3 Week+ Shelf Life

100 A+

NC high school student honored for work with TBC

NC high school student honored for work with TBC

Temoor Dard Writes Inspiring Letter Encouraging Blood Donation

A Panther Creek High School senior is hoping to bring back a life-saving tradition to the Wake County School System. Temoor Dard is a loyal blood drive host for The Blood Connection, a community blood center in Central and Eastern North Carolina. Dard has impacted hundreds of lives in his community through his hard work with TBC. Before he leaves high school, he’s pushing to make one last change. Dard has asked the Wake County School System to allow blood drives in schools again, so other students can get involved in making a difference too.

In a letter to Wake County School administrators, Dard wrote: “Not only does this community service project impact thousands of lives, it helps bring the community closer together, and inspires others to make a difference in their community. The end goal isn’t just about reaching a numeric goal, but also inspiring students to become active in their communities, whether it is by organizing book drives, growing their own gardens, etc…As a whole, Wake County high schools can save thousands of lives just by hosting blood drives once or twice a year.”

On Saturday April 6th, Dard hosted a high school blood drive with Panther Creek and Green Hope high school students in the Whole Foods parking lot on Arco Street in Cary, NC. The drive collected more than 100 units, saving approximately 300 lives. Before the drive started, Dard was also awarded a scholarship because of his success with TBC, to be used for college expenses (the check was written to The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill).

Dard has been leaving a lasting mark on his community throughout his high school career. He’s been involved with blood drives since he was a freshman at PCHS. Before The Blood Connection became the primary blood supplier for UNC Rex Health Care in 2018, Dard had already hosted four blood drives on his own. His first drive with TBC last year was his most successful, bringing in 120 donations that helped save approximately 350 lives. Since the Wake County Public School System does not allow blood drives in schools, Dard has made it his mission to change that.

Dard’s grandfather is his inspiration for becoming a blood donation advocate. His grandfather had multiple blood transfusions during open heart surgery when Dard was younger. His inspiration couples well with his intense passion to make a difference in his community and to bring people together.

“I want to leave an impact on my community. I want to have a legacy of quantifiable impact. I find satisfaction in helping others and leading projects for the greater good,” Dard told TBC. “The issue of a blood shortage hit close to home, as I knew what it felt like to almost lose a loved on… It’s fun to bring a community together in the act of saving lives.”

TBC is so grateful for Dard’s dedication to his community and willingness to serve as a blood drive host. He is truly an inspiration. He has not only affected the lives of local blood recipients, but their families too. He will surely make an even greater impact as a student at UNC Chapel Hill.  

The Raleigh Donation Center is located at 5925 Glenwood Avenue. It’s open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m on the weekends. Blood donors must be healthy, weigh at least 110 pounds, and be 17 years old or 16 with written parental consent. Photo ID required. To reduce donation time, donors can make an appointment in advance at: https://thebloodconnection.org/

Check out the TBC High School Program, which awards students like Temoor who are impacting their communities through blood donation and hosting blood drives: https://thebloodconnection.org/events/school-programs/high-school-program/

 

Dear Wake County High School Administrators,

My name is Temoor Dard and I am a senior at Panther Creek High School in Wake County. I’ve been fortunate enough to have been able to direct blood drives ever since I was a freshman up until now. PCHS has been very consistent with the blood drive tradition, and due to our improving success, our partner, the Blood Connection (a blood bank serving the Triangle), has asked us to start this initiative across all high schools in Wake County.

NC is facing a critical blood shortage, and the only way to address this problem is to get more people to donate blood, because blood is one of the few things we can’t artificially manufacture. Every pint of blood saves 3 lives and it only takes 15 minutes to donate.

However, Wake County, as of January 2018, does not allow high schools to have blood drives on campus. Fortunately, PCHS has been very successful in hosting our first ever off campus blood drive last November, and we would like to help other high schools do the same. For some context, the blood drives on campus at PCHS consistently brought in 70-80 people, but our first off-campus blood drive brought in 154, doubling our previous total. That same level of success and more can be emulated throughout Wake County. As a whole, Wake County high schools can save thousands of lives just by hosting blood drives once or twice a year.

Not only does this community service project impact thousands of lives, it helps bring the community closer together, and inspires others to make an difference in their community. The end goal isn’t just about reaching a numeric goal, but also inspiring students to become active in their communities, whether it is by organizing book drives, growing their own gardens, etc. In the end, the option lies up to you to pursue this community service event.

Keep in mind, if you are interested in pursuing this event, the blood drive would most likely be held in April or May, depending on how fast it can be organized. It normally takes a little over a month for PCHS to fully organize their drives. Blood drives are held on the weekend to not interfere with school hours.

I’ve also attached a document below detailing the first steps you should take to start your blood drive initiative at your school. It details everything about points of contact at the Blood Connection, incentives, advertising, registration, set up, and more.

If you have questions or concerns, please let me know and I will help you to the best of my ability. I look forward to working with you!

Thank you,

 

Temoor K. Dard

PCHS Blood Drive Director

Request A Custom Package

14 + 3 =

Platelet & Cryo Pricing

Package 1

$700

Platelets - 4 day shelf life

Package 2

$400

Pooled Cryo - 180+ day shelf life

Blood Type Inventory & Pricing

Package 3

$195

3 Week+ Shelf Life

45 - O+, 30 - A+, 14 - B+, 5 - O-, 5 - A-, 1 - B-

Package 4

$195

3 Week+ Shelf Life

45 - O+, 30 - A+, 14 - B+, 5 - O-, 5 - A-, 1 - B-

Package 5

$120

3 Week+ Shelf Life

100 A+