Ever come in to donate blood with ConnectLife and wonder about the folks sitting for hours hooked up to those large machines? Those are platelet donors – heroes for cancer patients, burn victims, and people with bleeding disorders whose two-hour stints in the chair are a critical part of the lifesaving work at local hospitals.
And this June, we’re recognizing those heroes while encouraging others to join their ranks! Last year’s platelet promise resulted in ConnectLife’s biggest month ever for platelets with 303 presenting donors – which was welcome news for the hospitals and patients who rely on those platelets for cancer treatments or surgeries. This year, we’re hoping it’s even bigger!
What does it mean for you?
If you’ve never donated platelets with ConnectLife, you’ll get a $10 e-gift card for your first donation here! It’s our way of saying thanks for trying out one of the most impactful things you can do to save lives in Western New York. If you’re a returning donor, you’ll be entered for a weekly basket raffle that includes ConnectLife swag and a $50 Visa gift card! And it all contributes toward the yearly gift we have ready for everyone with 12 donations total.
Why should you do it?
Platelets are crucial.
They only last five days on the shelf, so we can’t save them up for a time of great need like we can with red blood cells. Donors can be hard to find: two hours is a big commitment! And we can’t bring the machines out with us to most mobile drives, so we can only collect platelets at our donor centers in Williamsville, Tonawanda, and West Seneca, plus once a week in Lockport. All of these make collecting platelets one of our greatest challenges – but you can be part of the solution!
If you’re interested in trying it out, there are only two big differences in eligibility from a normal blood donation. First, you can’t have taken aspirin within 72 hours before you donate. Second, if you’ve ever been pregnant, you’ll need to get tested first for something called HLA – an antigen that could be in your blood that would give anyone who received your platelets a bad reaction. You can stop into any ConnectLife donor center for a quick blood draw for that test – no appointment needed!
How do you get started?
To schedule an appointment, visit the donor portal at ConnectLifeGiveBlood.org or call 716.529.4270. We have platelet donors with plenty of experience on staff who can answer any questions you have about donating platelets and help walk you through the whole process! You will definitely want an appointment for donating platelets, since you’ll need an open machine to do it.
Thank you to everyone who made last year’s Platelet Promise a success – and who’s helping make this one even better!
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