First-time and long-time blood donors are invited to join Giant for the next DONATE DOWNTOWN Mobile Blood Drive on Wednesday, May 27. The Memorial Blood Centers bus will be parked outside the Giant office at 212 W. Superior St. from 9 am – 3:30 pm.
Donating blood can seem intimidating, especially for first-time donors. But just one donation can save up to three lives, and the entire process takes less than an hour with the friendly staff at Memorial Blood Centers—making blood donation one of the easiest and fastest ways to support local patients.
To prepare for a quick and comfortable experience, donors should:
- Eat iron-rich foods like red meat, fish and beans in the days leading up to donation.
- Get a full, good night’s sleep the night before.
- Drink extra water and fluids before and after donation.
- Have a healthy and filling meal before, and replenish with a juice and snack after.
There’s no substitute for donated blood, and the need is constant. Memorial Blood Centers requires more than 550 donors per week to ensure hospitals in the Duluth region can provide life-saving care to cancer patients, accident and trauma victims, newborns and mothers, transplant recipients, surgery patients and more.
Still, only 3% of the eligible population actually donates—and the number one reason people don’t donate is that they were never asked. So, DONATE DOWNTOWN is asking Duluthians directly:
Will you spare an hour to give local patients the life-saving gift of blood donation? Sign up HERE.
The DONATE DOWNTOWN coalition companies — ALLETE, APEX, Enbridge, Giant, Lake Superior Consulting, LHB, maurices, Memorial Blood Centers, MN Power, MPECU and Northwestern Mutual — host mobile blood drives every 56 days, giving eligible donors in Duluth a convenient, safe and comfortable opportunity to support local patients. Donors can reserve their donation time HERE, and reach out to Becky Ekstam, DONATE DOWNTOWN Coordinator, at becky@giantvoices.com for more information.
