NEW YORK – New York Blood Center announced a blood emergency on Tuesday, as the region’s ongoing heatwave, summer travel, and a recent spike in COVID-19 cases have caused a significant decrease in donations over the past several weeks.
Hospitals and patients rely upon a steady flow of donors to receive life-saving blood donations, but these factors have caused the blood supply to become unstable. The blood supply currently stands at a 1-2-day level, which is well below the ideal level of 5-7-days.
The blood center is partnering with local breweries for their “Pint for a Pint” campaign, which runs from August 1st – September 10th at all donor centers and community blood drives.
As a part of this campaign, all presenting blood donors will receive a voucher to redeem a free pint of beer, cider, wine, or soft drink at their local participating brewery or restaurant.
Since March 2020, the number of first-time donors has dropped dramatically and creative campaigns like “Pint for Pint” aim to raise awareness as well as amplify the need for new blood donors.
Twenty-five establishments are participating in this campaign across the region. A full list of participating breweries and restaurants can be found here. Blood donors cannot redeem their voucher for alcohol on the day of their blood donation.
To make an appointment at a blood drive near you, donors can call 1-800-933-2566 or visit nybc.org/pint. Can’t donate blood? You can still support NYBC’s mission by texting ‘NYBC’ to ‘20222’ to give $25.
