In honor of the Martin Luther King Day of Service 2013, American Red Cross (ARC) Bay Area Chapter and SF LightHouse will launch the 1st Annual Bay Area Blind Blood Drive on January 9th, 2013 in partnership with other Bay Area blind services agencies.
Who: Blind and sighted blood donors
When: January 9, 2013 from noon to 5:00 p.m.
Where: LightHouse for the Blind, San Francisco, and other locations (see below)
American Red Cross (ARC) Bay Area Chapter has agreed to dedicate its entire mobile unit fleet, brick and mortar sites, and much of its associative staff to this unprecedented event. This is truly an exciting opportunity for the entire Bay Area blind community and its constituents to come together for a day and mobilize as a single, cohesive alliance with one common goal: to give back (via a potentially life-saving contribution) to the community.
Our goal—albeit an ambitious one—is to break the single day ARC Blood Drive donation record of 350 units of blood. We feel this is quite doable when taking into consideration the geographical reach of the Blind Blood Drive (Sacramento to San Jose), the sheer number of potential blind and low vision donors and their supporters, and of course, the inexorable power of the blind community when sharing a common cause.
According to ARC data, every two seconds someone in the United States needs blood, a staggering statistic indeed. This singular act of community service and civic engagement will not only help replenish this heavily relied upon, life-saving resource, but it will also instill in each of us a greater sense of community pride.
For more information about this exciting event, please contact John Liang, Director of Community and Volunteer Services at jliang@lighthouse-sf.org or 415-694-7334.
Donation center sites:
- LightHouse for the Blind, San Francisco headquarters: 214 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco
- LightHouse for the Blind, Marin: 930 Tamalpais Ave, San Rafael
- Orientation Center for the Blind: 400 Adams Street, Albany
- Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired: 2470 El Camino Real, Palo Alto
- San Jose Blood Donation Center: 2731 North First St, San Jose
- Oakland Blood Donation Center: 6230 Claremont Ave, Oakland
- Contra Costa Blood Donation Center: 140 Gregory Lane, Pleasant Hill
- Pleasanton Blood Donation Center: 5556-B Springdale Ave, Pleasanton
- Fremont – Newark Blood Donation Center: 39227 Cedar Blvd, Newark
Volunteers will be on site at each location to help with paperwork and to make the process seamless. Join us on January 9th!
