Pints 4 Play is back!
Thursday, May 12th from 6am-6pm, join SunCoast Blood Centers, Badger Bob’s Services & 107.9 WSRZ for an all-day blood drive.
Donate blood at any of the sites below, and you’ll receive a free “plug” or “play” from David Jones & Meredith Michaels “The Jones & Company Morning Show” on 107.9 WSRZ – a live “plug” for your local business or favorite local charity, or a “play” of any song you’d like to request. David & Meredith will be live in the WSRZ studio from 6am-6pm to provide your plugs and plays all day long!
- Free P4P shirt! Blood donors at all locations are eligible to receive a free commemorative Pints 4 Play t-shirt (while supplies last).
- Free P4P Tervis! Donors at the main Robarts Arena site will also have the option to receive a free collectible Pints 4 Play16-ounce Tervis Tumbler, courtesy of our friends at Badger Bob’s Services (while supplies last).
Win big with the Blood Donor Challenge! Gather up your co-workers and friends, and donate blood on behalf of your company or your favorite charity. The local business and the local charity that each have the most donations in their name will both receive a free radio ad campaign valued at $5000 from iHeartRadio Sarasota.
SunCoast Blood Centers Pints 4 Play Donation Sites:
- Robarts Arena at the Sarasota County Fairgrounds on Fruitville Rd., Sarasota
- In Lakewood Ranch, off Lakewood Ranch Blvd., right behind Crowder’s ACE Hardware.
- In Venice, at Bird Bay Plaza on US 41.
- In Port Charlotte, at Charlotte Square a few doors down from Abbes’ Donuts.
To schedule a donation in advance, call 866-97-BLOOD or Click Here
Special thanks to our presenting sponsor Badger Bob’s Services!
Free lunch! Donate blood at the main Robarts Arena location during lunchtime, and you'll get a free lunch from Sonny's BBQ, plus an extra $5 in Sonny's BBQ Bucks. Available from 11am-2pm, while supplies last.
• SUNCOAST BLOOD CENTERS - the only blood center exclusively serving patients and hospitals here in Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte & DeSoto Counties along with Tampa’s Moffitt Cancer Center.
• SUNCOAST BLOOD CENTERS - America’s ONLY blood center providing exclusive “Donate-at-Home” service, where we bring the donation center right to you! These are smaller mobile units that allow a personal and individualized donation experience right from the convenience of your driveway.
• SUNCOAST BLOODS CENTERS – the ONLY blood center that plants a tree for every blood donation! We are partnering with Forestmatic, an organization that is helping us plant 40,000 trees this year. Reforestation also creates jobs and when you donate with SunCoast Blood, the tree planted on your behalf helps reduce our carbon footprint. By year’s end, together we will offset 2,530 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) and help the planet for generations to come.
• SUNCOAST BLOODS CENTERS – Florida’s partner in the national Blood Emergency Readiness Corps. We are a charter member of this national first response network that supplies blood during national disasters and mass casualty events, like a mass shooting or major trauma incident. In December, during our first on-call week, SunCoast Blood Centers were activated and we rushed blood to tornado-impacted regions of Southwestern Kentucky.
• SunCoast Blood Centers’ donor centers are designed with your comfort and safety in mind. We continue to follow CDC guidelines by practicing social distancing; mask wearing for all staff (optional for donors), along with sterilizing all donor touch points before and after each donor.
• SUNCOAST BLOODS CENTERS’ new, 31,000 square foot, state-of-the-art donation center on Lakewood Ranch Boulevard was designed to create the most comfortable, pleasant and convenient experience for our blood and platelet donors. We offer Starbucks Gourmet Coffee Bar AVAILABLE for every donor & our SCBC Lakewood Ranch facility includes laboratory services, manufacturing, and administrative offices.
PLATELETS
SUNCOAST BLOOD CENTERS wants you to know that there’s an URGENT need for platelets here along the Suncoast.
- Platelets aid in the clotting process and are critical in the treatment of cancer patients, trauma victims,
- surgical patients, and certain blood disorders.
- Thousands of patients in our community, ranging from newborn babies to seniors, require platelets
- every year.
- A cancer patient can use one to three units of platelets per day while undergoing chemotherapy or
- radiation treatment.
- Platelets are only viable for five days, so we need more donors to replenish them at our area hospitals.
- Platelet donors can give more often (up to 24 times per year) because their red blood cells are returned
- to them during the donation process.
- Call 855-977-5283 to schedule a platelet donation.
MORE THAN JUST A BLOOD BANK!
- Leader in the industry to provide pathogen reduce platelets in the country.
- First blood center in US to provide pathogen reduced Platelets to a hospital.
- Safest platelet product in the world and we offer it here in our area and to our community.
- Research Opportunities – We partner with bio-research firms to advance medical studies and clinical trials.
- Support recovery from natural disasters like Hurricanes – SCBC meets the local needs first, but when they can
- SCBC supports other blood banks around the country. For example, in 2017 when hurricane Harvey hit Texas
- SCBC was the first blood bank to respond by adding additional drives and shipped more than 300 blood products before the hurricane made landfall. Two weeks after we received helped back with Hurricane Irma.
SURPRISING HEALTH BENEFITS OF DONATING BLOOD OR PLATELETS
- Donating blood is a win-win for everyone involved. Receivers get a vital substance and donors get to burn calories, lower
- their risk of cancer, and keep their heart healthy. All this while laying back and taking a relaxing 45-60 minutes to do a good deed and save lives!
GIVING BLOOD CAN REVEAL POTENTIAL HEALTH PROBLEMS
- While it is not the same thing as a trip to the doctor, donating blood can be another way to keep an eye on your cardiovascular health. You will receive a mini-physical prior to the blood draw, in which someone will check your pulse, blood pressure, body temperature, hemoglobin and more. This can sometimes shed light on issues you did not even know about.
GIVING BLOOD MAY LOWER YOUR RISK OF SUFFERING A HEART ATTACK
- Donating blood at least once a year could reduce your risk of a heart attack by 88%, according to a study
- conducted by the American Journal of Epidemiology.
- High levels of iron in the blood constrict your blood vessels and create more risk of a heart attack,
- depleting those extra iron deposits by donating blood gives your vessels more room to operate.
BURNING CALORIES
- No, blood donation will not become a weight loss fad any time soon. However, researchers at the University of California, San Diego have found that you can lose up to 650 calories per pint of blood donated. That is not a bad deal for kicking back and doing a good deed.
PREVENTS HEMOCHROMATOSIS
- Health benefits of blood donation include reduced risk of hemochromatosis. Hemochromatosis is a health condition that arises due to excess absorption of iron by the body.
ANTI-CANCER BENEFITS
- Blood donation MAY help in lowering the risk of cancer. By donating blood, the iron stores in the body are maintained at healthy levels. A reduction in the iron level in the body is linked with low cancer risk.
STIMULATES BLOOD CELL PRODUCTION
- After donating blood, the body works to replenish the blood loss. This stimulates the production of new blood cells and in turn, helps in maintaining good health.