The Blood Connection is gearing up for one of its most important donation days of the year. Across the globe on June 14 is World Blood Donor Day, and Allie Van Dyke, media coordinator for The Blood Connection, expects a significant turnout from the Upstate.
“We haven’t had a more important World Blood Donor Day than this,” she says. “The whole world is going through something together during this COVID-19 pandemic, and this is our chance to make a positive impact.”
The Blood Connection has locations in Greenville, Spartanburg, Greenwood, Seneca and Easley in South Carolina and two more in Western North Carolina — Hendersonville and Asheville. In addition to their permanent locations, The Blood Connection is always looking for organizations and locations to host blood drives. By visiting The Blood Connection’s website and clicking “Host a Blood Drive,” neighbors can help host a lifesaving event at no cost. That’s exactly what one local church did to make a huge impact.
A Church that serves even while the doors are closed
NewSpring Church’s 14 locations across South Carolina have been closed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, but that hasn’t stopped them from serving their communities. Suzanne Swift, public affairs director at NewSpring, reached out to The Blood Connection to find out what her church could do to help. “Like everyone else, we wanted to do something to be helpful right now, and it’s difficult to know what to do,” Swift says. “We reached out to The Blood Connection, and they took care of pretty much everything.”
What happened next serves as a reminder that a small act of courage and charity can go a long way. NewSpring and The Blood Connection set up 13 blood drives across South Carolina in early May. Those drives brought in 1,241 people to give blood, and the majority were first-time donors, providing donations which will help save many lives here at home.
NewSpring’s far-reaching influence produced staggering numbers over two weekends, but The Blood Connection takes pride in hosting drives of all sizes. Whether it’s for 20 people, 50 people or hundreds of people, The Blood Connection wants to make it easy for people to give. “We were grateful to be able to help and would love to do it again,” Swift says. “We hope that other churches and organizations can do this as well because it does make a big impact.”
