Volunteer Donors Offered Mystery Gift Card
As Thank You For Their Lifesaving Donations!

January 4 & 5, 2015

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Volunteer blood, platelet and plasma donors are needed to help rebuild the post holiday blood supply to ensure there is enough blood on the shelves during the winter months.

Donors who make life-giving donations on Sunday or Monday, January 4 or 5, at a Community Blood Services donor center in New Jersey will receive a �mystery� gift card as a thank you for their lifesaving donations.

�During the holiday season, blood supplies traditionally dip because of donors� busy schedules,� said Karen Ferriday, director of community affairs at Community Blood Services. �It takes awhile for community, corporate and high school blood drives to start up again and donors are just starting to return to their pre-holiday schedules.�

Donors can donate Sunday, January 4, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Paramus Donor Center, 1 West Ridgewood Avenue, or Monday, January 5 from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Or they can donate on Monday at the Lincoln Park Donor Center, 63 Beaverbrook Road, Suite 304, 12 noon to 7:30 p.m. or the Montvale donor room, 102 Chestnut Ridge Road, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Call 201-251-3703 or click here to make an appointment to donate. Walk-ins are welcome but an appointment is needed to donate platelets.

�It�s important throughout the winter months to maintain an adequate supply in the event that there is a snowstorm or bout of flu that keeps donors from donating,� Ferriday said.

All blood types and products are needed, especially O negative, the universal blood type. Male plasma donors are needed to treat trauma victims and patients with bleeding disorders, and platelets are needed to treat patients diagnosed with cancer or other blood disorders. Platelets only have a shelf life of five days so they must continuously be replenished, Ferriday said.

Community Blood Services provides blood and blood products for patients in more than 18 hospitals in New Jersey and New York. Whole blood donors must be 17-75 years old (16 years old with parental consent) and weigh at least 110 pounds. Donors also receive complimentary non-fasting cholesterol and glucose health screenings at the time of their donations.