Blood Assurance is teaming up with the Cherokee Area Council of Boy Scouts of America to host a weeklong blood drive at Chattanooga-area donor centers and mobile blood drives.
Community members who donate blood during Boy Scout Week, happening Tuesday through Friday, Sept. 6-9, will receive a Boy Scout coupon card valid at several restaurants and businesses. A coinciding campaign also will reward donors with an "I Bleed" college T-shirt.
The Boy Scout coupon card offers deals and discounts at Ace Hardware, Arby's, Chattanooga Lookouts, Express Oil Change & Tire Engineers, Fazoli's, Food City, Honey Baked Ham, Papa John's, Smoothie King, Sport Clips, Sportsman's Warehouse and Sweet Frog.
"Our goal at Boy Scouts of America is to prepare our Scouts to have a fulfilled life by giving back to the community," says Scott Martin, program director for the Cherokee Area Council. "Partnering with Blood Assurance will help our Scouts learn the importance of blood donation and how it benefits our community."
Headquartered in Chattanooga, the Cherokee Area Council serves more than 6,600 youth in Southeast Tennessee and Northwest Georgia with the help of more than 1,700 volunteers.
"You don't have to be a Scout to donate blood during Scout Week," says Mindy Quinn, marketing manager for Blood Assurance. "We want to encourage all members of the community to help save local patients' lives, and, as a thank you for each donation, donors will receive some great local deals from the Scout coupon card."
The "I Bleed" T-shirts represent nine college football programs: Auburn, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Virginia Tech, UTC, Tennessee Wesleyan, Tennessee Tech and East Tennessee State.
The limited-edition T-shirts will be available at all Blood Assurance donor centers and bloodmobiles, though the selection may vary by location.
Blood Assurance's downtown donor center is at 705 E. Fourth St. across from UTC's McKenzie Arena. Its Gunbarrel donor center is at 1748 Gunbarrel Road across from Chick-fil-A. Its Hixson donor center is at 1920 Northpoint Blvd. between Lowe's and Home Depot.
The entire blood donation process, from registration to post-donation snack, takes less than an hour. The nonprofit regional blood center currently needs more than 540 volunteer blood donors each day to adequately meet the demand from local hospitals. Just one blood donation can save up to three lives. Each donation of blood contains plasma, red blood cells and platelets that can be used to save lives of any age, including premature babies, oncology patients, trauma victims and surgery patients.
To be eligible to donate, you must be at least 17 years old (16 years old with parental consent), weigh at least 110 pounds and be in good health. Donors are asked to drink plenty of fluids - avoiding caffeine - and eat a meal that is rich in iron before donating.
For more information, contact Blood Assurance at 423-756-0966 or visit www.bloodassurance.org.