A ‘Pint-for-Pint’ approach to donating blood

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Fictional vampires, mosquitoes and MountainStart Blood Services all have one thing in common: They want your blood.

The MBS is having its annual blood drive “Pint-for-Pint” where donors who give a pint of blood will get a coupon for dessert at the local BYU Creamery or Coney’s Frozen Custard.

[media-credit name=”Luke Hansen” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]
BYU student Cara Blake donates blood at Mountain Star Blood Services in Provo on Monday.
Steven Hansen, marketing and donor recruiter supervisor at MBS, said he believes the Pint-for-Pint tradition is beneficial for the cause.

“Several holidays, starting with Memorial Day and ending with Labor Day, disrupt the schedules of people who routinely share the ‘Gift of Life,’ ” Hansen said. “MountainStar started the Pint-for-Pint promotion as an incentive for local residents to voluntarily donate blood during a period when it is often in short supply.”

This promotion has been put on each summer by the MBS for more than 10 years, and has supplied the Mountain View Hospital in Payson, Timpanogos Regional Hospital in Orem and six other Wasatch Front facilities.

During the summer, blood banks suffer because of the lack in supply and a rise in demand.  MBS is striving this year to maintain enough of a supply to meet the needs.

To do this, they are extending the normal Pint-for-Pint promotion for an extra month, encompassing all of July and August.

“In the past, Pint-for-Pint was a 30-day campaign,” Hansen said. “Because of its popularity, and due to its success, it has been expanded in 2011. This year it will run July 5 to Sept. 3 and involve several additional Wasatch Front creameries and frozen treat retailers.”

Marilyn Peralta, director at MBS since 2006 and a driving force behind the Pint-for-Pint progarm, attested to the difficulties in meeting the current blood demand.

“One of the greatest challenges for recruiters is to involve more young people in the life-saving activity,” Peralta said. “Baby-boomers, and those who are older, know firsthand how critical it is to have blood ‘on the shelf” and ready for transfusion at any moment. They’ve had at-risk babies who have been saved with a transfusion. They have seen parents and friends with cancer who have received blood therapies.”

MountainStar has had great success in the past with the Pint-for-Pint blood drive, but in order to meet the ever-increasing needs, Peralta said they need to have a successful summer.

“MountainStar collected 1,440 units of blood in July 2008, 1,829 units in July 2009 and 1,716 units in July 2010,” Peralta said. “This year, our goal is to collect 2,500 units in July and another 2,000 units in August. That is an ambitious undertaking, but one that is required to meet the needs of eight Wasatch Front hospitals.”

According to Karen Tribett, an MBS donor recruiter from Elk Ridge, the summer season normally presents challenges to blood bankers. But, so far, the Utah-based service has been able to meet the demands.

“We’ve been lucky,” Tribett said in a news release. “As usual, donations are down and demand is up. But, to date, we have been able to keep pace with the need.”

Donors can either visit the  Provo MBS donor center at 152 W. 1230 North, or can call 1-877-45-BLOOD for the dates and times of convenient mobile blood drives throughout Utah County.

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