Davenport, Iowa, July 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ImpactLife continues to send blood components to support patient needs in the area of Texas hit by Hurricane Beryl earlier this month. Many blood drives throughout the region were canceled after the hurricane made landfall early on July 8, 2024, and several community donor centers were temporarily closed due to power outages, hindering the region's available blood supply. 

While continuing to meet commitments to local hospitals, ImpactLife is participating in a national effort to support the region's blood supply, and has made additional shipments of platelets and red blood cells each of the last two weeks to Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center and to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, both based in Houston.

Kevin Shipley, Associate Vice President of Community Engagement with Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center, shares a word of thanks from the region affected by Hurricane Beryl. (view on YouTube | download .mp4)

Hurricane Beryl has left people in our community without power for multiple days or even a week. This has put a damper on our blood supply and our ability to provide the units needed every single day by the thousands of patients that we serve. We’re very fortunate and we want to say thank you to the many partners across the country who have stepped up and helped send units so that every patient, every day, every hospital, doesn’t have to worry about blood being readily available. Thank you to our partners and to the donors across the country who have supported us in our time of need.

-Kevin Shipley, Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center

Blood and platelet donations are used to support ongoing, routine use at local hospitals while a reserve is needed in case of a spike in demand due to large scale emergency or mass trauma. Additional donations from type O-positive and O-negative blood donors, and from platelet donors of all blood types, are needed at this time. To schedule, call ImpactLife at (800) 747-5401, visit www.bloodcenter.org, or download the ImpactLife mobile app at www.bloodcenter.org/app.

ImpactLife Donor Promotions (through July 31) 
To thank donors who give blood during this critical time of year, ImpactLife will provide all presenting donors with a voucher to redeem for their choice of an electronic gift card, bonus points to use in the Donor Rewards Store, or an equivalent donation to Make-a-Wish Illinois, Make-a-Wish Iowa, Make-a-Wish Missouri, or Make-a-Wish Wisconsin via the blood center’s “Good Giving” program.

• Whole blood donation (Donor Centers and mobile blood drives)
  • $20 gift card, $20 donation OR 1,000 points
• Double red and plasma only donations 
  • $25 gift card, $25 donation OR 1,500 points
• Platelet donations (donors who have given platelets 2+ times previously with ImpactLife)
  • $25 gift card, $25 donation OR 1,500 points
• Platelet donations (donor’s first or second attempt to ever give platelets with ImpactLife)
  • $50 gift card, $50 donation OR 3,000 points

About ImpactLife
ImpactLife is a nonprofit community organization providing blood services to more than 120 hospitals and emergency medical service providers in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and Wisconsin, as well as resource sharing partners across the country. The blood center operates 23 Donor Centers and holds approximately 5000 mobile blood drives annually to provide blood components needed by hospitals and in pre-hospital emergency response throughout our region.

For more information on blood inventories and donor promotions, see www.bloodcenter.org and find us @impactlifeblood on Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

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• ImpactLife assists region affected by Hurricane Beryl

Kirby Winn
ImpactLife
(563) 349-1571
kwinn@impactlife.org