SAVING LIVES IS AS EASY AS PIE

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Give thanks this Thanksgiving by giving the Gift of Life and receive a free pie

ST. PAUL, Minn. (November 5, 2007) – In the spirit of the holiday season, the American Red Cross is thanking blood donors by giving donors a free pie at area blood centers on Thanksgiving Day, November 22. The pies are courtesy of Kowalski’s Markets in St. Paul and Shoreview, Paul’s Food Pride in St. James and Festival Foods in Eau Claire. 

Blood donation has become a favorite Thanksgiving Day tradition for many. “Donating blood is one of the simplest, most powerful things a person can do,” says Jane Prohaska of Saint Paul. “My husband and I get up early on Thanksgiving, go in and donate, and then come home and start cooking. Does the free pumpkin pie get us in the door? No. But it helps!”

THANKSGIVING DAY BLOOD DRIVE DONATION LOCATIONS:

North Suburban Blood Donation Center, 3490 Lexington Ave. North, Shoreview, MN
7 a.m. – 1p .m.

St. Paul Area Blood Donation Center, 176 Robert Street South, St. Paul, MN
7 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Chippewa Valley Blood Donation Center, 3485 East Hamilton Avenue, Eau Claire, WI
7 a.m. – 1 p.m.

St. James VFW Hall, 4 South 7th Street,  St. James, MN
8 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Eligible donors can call 1.800.GIVE.LIFE or go online  to make an appointment to give this special Thanksgiving gift. A blood donor card or driver’s license are required at check-in. Donors must be at least 17 years old and must weigh at least 110 pounds.

Demand for blood is constant and the long holiday weekend poses a special challenge for community blood banks. “Many donors are traveling and spending time with family,” says Rick Panning, CEO of the local American Red Cross Blood Services region. “Blood donation appointments are easily forgotten – but the patients who depend on lifesaving blood can’t take a holiday break.”

More than 5,000 pints of blood must be collected by the Red Cross every week to help desperately ill patients. Accident victims, cancer patients, newborns, and people with chronic diseases all depend on blood and blood products to survive.

ABOUT THE AMERICAN RED CROSS BLOOD SERVICES
The St. Paul, Minnesota-based North Central Blood Services Region supplies blood products and specialized laboratory services to more than 100 hospitals in Minnesota, western Wisconsin and eastern South Dakota. In a lifesaving partnership with approximately 127,000 volunteer blood donors, 4,000 volunteer blood drive coordinators and 630 staff members, the North Central Region organizes nearly 5,000 blood drives in an effort to collect approximately 240,000 pints of blood each year.

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