There is a gift you can give this holiday that costs nothing but time and requires no added shipping. When you give blood, you save lives by ensuring hospital patients receive the transfusions they need. All blood types are needed for a safe and sufficient blood supply. When a person donates whole blood every two months, there is seldom a blood shortage. Sadly, these donors are only a fraction of those eligible to give.
Blood donations tend to drop over the holidays. Help reverse this seasonal trend by donating blood and bringing another donor with you. Donors that donate blood with Carter BloodCare from Nov. 22, 2021, to Jan. 7, 2022, will be automatically entered in a random drawing for a 2021 Chevrolet Spark, courtesy of Classic Chevrolet Fleet and Commercial. To see the rules, visit carterbloodcare.org/cargiveaway.
Rowlett Rotary is hosting a blood drive from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, December 18, at 8805 Lakeview Parkway in the Tom Thumb parking lot on the Carter BloodCare bus. For more information or to schedule an appointment, contact Ken Noel at (214) 415-9165.
Donors can complete the medical history questionnaire online on the day of donation, before arriving to give blood. People with and without COVID-19 vaccinations are both eligible to donate blood.
COVID Precautions
Carter BloodCare staff and unvaccinated donors are required to wear facial coverings at blood drives or donation centers, except when temperature is taken during screening, or when eating and drinking after the donation. Vaccinated donors are strongly encouraged to continue wearing masks. Carter BloodCare will comply with required mask mandates, as applicable.
Potential blood donors may volunteer at age 16 with parental consent; 17-year-olds can give independently and there is no upper age limit. For more information on donor eligibility and to make an appointment, call or text 800-366-2834 or visit CarterBloodCare.org.
About Carter BloodCare
Carter BloodCare is an independent, community blood center providing transfusion resources to more than 180 medical facilities in 50-plus counties of North, Central and East Texas. The non-profit 501(c)(3) organization is one of the largest blood programs in Texas, delivering more than 450,000 blood products annually to meet hospitals’ requirements for their patients. Services include collection, processing, specialized laboratory testing, storage and distribution of blood and blood products.