New York Blood Center Joins Global Call for Lifesaving Blood Donations with "Missing Type" Campaign

The campaign was first held in England and North Wales by NHS Blood and Transplant in 2015, and this year brings together 25 blood services from 21 countries, representing more than one billion people.  This year, Missing Type letters will also be disappearing from famous locations in Australia, Japan, Ireland, England, and many more countries. Celebrities supporting the campaign include actress Jamie Lee Curtis and rapper LL Cool J.  NYBC and Lauren Shields, a sixteen-year-old blood recipient who needed life-saving blood transfusions during her heart transplant in 2009, rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange to launch and support the Missing Type campaign on Tuesday, August 9^th.

Each second, three people across the world receive a life-saving blood transfusion, thanks to selfless donors who answer the call to donate. Yet participating blood services reported the number of people becoming donors and giving blood for the first time has decreased by 27.6% since 2005. In the United States, there is a particular need for new donors with O negative blood, the universal blood type, and donors of minority backgrounds such as Latino/Hispanic and African American community. The organizations are calling for new donors to ensure blood donations and a steady supply for future generations.

Robert Purvis, Vice President of NYBC said, "New York Blood Center is very proud to be part of the international Missing Type campaign which has the power to raise awareness globally on the every day need for blood – especially O- which is the universal blood type and is always in short supply.  The campaign couldn't happen at a better time, as August is such a high vacation month!"

You can start donating blood across the U.S. from age sixteen, with a parent's written consent. The Latino/Hispanic and African American populations are underrepresented in the donor pool, and with the increasing population rate, their communities are in need.

"We need people to come out and support one another," Ms. Shields said. "By donating your blood and your time, you are saving a life just like mine. Blood is needed for transfusions during organ transplants, or when someone is undergoing chemotherapy. Without blood, and people who donated, I would not be here today." 

To sign up to donate, visit: www.nybloodcenter.org/blood

or call Toll Free: 1-800-933-2566

About the New York Blood Center

Now more than 50 years old, New York Blood Center (NYBC) is a nonprofit organization that is one of the largest independent, community-based blood centers in the country. NYBC, along with its partner organizations Community Blood Center of Kansas City, Missouri (CBC), and Innovative Blood Resources (IBR), based St. Paul, Minnesota, collect approximately 2,000 units of blood products each day, serving local communities of more than 25 million people in New York, New Jersey, parts of Connecticut and Pennsylvania, the Kansas City metropolitan area, Minnesota, and Nebraska.

NYBC and its partners also provide a wide array of transfusion-related medical services, while NYBC's National Cord Blood Program (NCBP) at the Howard P. Milstein Cord Blood Center is home to the world's largest public cord blood bank. NYBC is also home to a renowned research institute, which — among other milestones — developed the Hepatitis B vaccine and innovative blood-purification technology.

Website:  www.nybloodcenter.org 
Facebook:  www.facebook.com/newyorkbloodcenter 
Twitter:  @NYBloodCenter
Instagram:  @newyorkbloodcenter

Media Contact:
Andrea M. Garcia
(212) 683-8100

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SOURCE New York Blood Center

Related Links

http://www.nybloodcenter.org