New York Blood Center Joins Global Call for Lifesaving Blood Donations with "Missing Type" Campaign
-- Organizations across New York City, including Morgan Stanley, Hard Rock Café, City University of New York (CUNY), National Grid and Kaufman Astoria Studios, unite with blood centers from 21 countries to encourage blood donations
-- NYBC says Latino/Hispanic, African American, and first time donors are particularly needed
NEW YORK, Aug. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- New York Blood Center has joined blood donor organizations across 21 countries in the Missing Type campaign, which seeks to focus public attention on the critical issue of declining blood donations across all blood types. This creative campaign has earned the support of organizations worldwide. Each participating entity drops the letters "A", "B" and "O" – representing the three main blood groups – from their logos, signs, websites, social media platforms and email signatures. Organizations working directly with NYBC on this effort include Morgan Stanley, Hard Rock Café, City University of New York (CUNY), National Grid and Kaufman Astoria Studios.
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 9th.
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
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