SCOTTSDALE – Blood donations drop in summer, so United Blood Services is offering an incentive: a chance to own a new car.
One out of 10 donors in Arizona are teenagers and four out of 10 are workers, according to Sue Thew, spokeswoman for United Blood Services. She said their absence during the summer, with students on an extended break and workers taking vacations that make it difficult to arrange company blood drives, leads to a drop in donations.
The blood supply is one-third below required levels, Thew said. Type O negative, Type O positive, Type A negative, and Type B negative are especially needed.
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The agency is trying to entice people to donate blood this summer by offering them a chance to win a 2016 Volkswagen Passat S. Donors must be at least 16-years-old, in good health and set up an appointment online or over the phone by calling 1-877-827-4376. It takes about an hour to donate blood. Those who donate by Aug. 31 will be entered into a drawing.
Luis Sanroman didn’t know about a car when he decided to donate earlier this week at his Phoenix workplace. He just thought it was the right thing to do.
“The Red Cross seems to be everywhere they’re needed, and I’ve been to a couple of places of disaster zones during my travels,” said Sanroman, who works at PayChex, a payroll services company. “I know the good work that they do.”
(Video by Jaquelina Balbuena/Cronkite News)