Now you can track your blood donation and perhaps gets a personal message from a recipient

Janet Begley
·2 min read
The Monarch Country Club partnered with OneBlood and held a blood drive for community residents in the clubhouse parking lot on Saturday, April 25, 2020 in Palm City. There were three buses on site for the 47 community members that signed up to to donate blood and walk-ins were also welcomed. "Many of them like to donate regularly and they were finding it difficult to make that happen," said Kathleen Jones, the Monarch Country Club general manager. "This is a larger initiative that we have with ClubCorp nationwide where we have partnered with the Red Cross and OneBlood to help with the worldwide pandemic and the need for blood."

Blood donations have plummeted throughout the pandemic but the area’s blood supplier has come up with a new way to enable donors to track where their donation goes and perhaps receive a thank you message from its recipient.

OneBlood, which services Indian River, St. Lucie and Martin counties and is familiar to residents with its Big Red Bus donation vehicles, has unveiled its My OneBlood Journey program that notifies donors when their blood is on its way to help a patient and even what hospital it is heading to.

To participate in the program, donors simply need to provide their email address at the time of donation. A tag is attached to donations OneBlood sends to hospitals, and patients or family members can send an electronic message back to their donor.

“My OneBlood Journey and Message My Donor are bringing the donation experience full-circle by personalizing the donation experience for donors and by bringing them a step closer to the patients they are helping save,” said Susan Forbes, senior vice president of corporate communications and public relations at OneBlood.

Fulvia Gallimore, a phlebotomist at the OneBlood donor center in Vero Beach, prepares two bags of packed red blood cells for shipment Thursday, March 19, 2020, as the need for blood donations rises due to the coronavirus outbreak. "We can maximize a donor's potential by seating their blood type," said Larry Thompson, team leader at the center. "For example, certain blood types yield better red blood cells or plasma. We're always looking for someone to donate platelets because they only have a shelf-life of five days."

She said its a ground-breaking program that brings the donation experience full-circle and is bringing a personal connection for donors by bringing them a step closer to the patients they are helping save.

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Blood donation is an easy way to make a tremendous impact in your community, Forbes said.

“The pandemic continues to up-end many of the traditional locations for blood drives and it’s so important that people keep the blood supply at the forefront and continue to donate each and every time they are eligible,” said Forbes.

The Monarch Country Club partnered with OneBlood and held a blood drive for community residents in the clubhouse parking lot on Saturday, April 25, 2020 in Palm City. There were three buses on site for the 47 community members that signed up to to donate blood and walk-ins were also welcomed. "Many of them like to donate regularly and they were finding it difficult to make that happen," said Kathleen Jones, the Monarch Country Club general manager. "This is a larger initiative that we have with ClubCorp nationwide where we have partnered with the Red Cross and OneBlood to help with the worldwide pandemic and the need for blood."

Some of the messages donors have received back from the recipients have been very rewarding. While most say thanks for donating, some are very specific and even reference how the donation was utilized.

“Thanks so much for saving my life,” one recipient wrote. “I had four bleeding ulcers and your blood brought my hemoglobin back up.”

Another recipient said the donation helped save her father’s life.

“He is the only dad I have,” the family of one recipient wrote. “Thanks to you, I still have him.”

Transfusions are taking place every day in hospitals throughout the Treasure Coast and it’s important that donors replenish the supply so there is blood readily available, Forbes said.

To find the closest donor center or a Big Red Bus blood drive, visit oneblood.org.

Treasure Coast donation centers

  • Vero Beach Donor Center, 1300 36th Street, Vero Beach

  • Port St. Lucie Donor Center, 7572 U.S. 1, Port St. Lucie

  • Stuart Donor Center, 2929 S.W. Ocean Blvd., Stuart

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Track your blood donation with OneBlood on Treasure Coast