Blood Connection’s Freedom Week Begins July 1

The Blood Connection kicks off its annual summertime Freedom Week Campaign .this weekend.

Freedom Week this year runs from July 1 through July 9th and it’s a time when you can go to a local donation center and donate.

Delisa English, TBC President and CEO tells WLHR News that while you’re enjoying the summer months to please remember to donate blood.

While some will be celebrating the July 4 holiday with fireworks and barbecues, local hospital patients in need of blood transfusions won’t have the same freedom.

The sad reality is only three percent of the population donates blood, but one in seven people who enter a hospital will need a blood transfusion but the supply doesn’t keep up with the demand.

That’s why the Blood Connection has instituted Freedom Week to remind people to donate blood when donations in the summer are traditionally low.

The Blood Connection donation centers nearest to Northeast Georgia are in Seneca and Anderson.

During Freedom Week Blood Donation Centers will be open even on the 4th of July. And all donors will receive a $25 gift card.

To donate sooner, bloodmobiles will be at the Hartwell YMCA on Friday from 1p to 6p and at the Hartwell Walmart on Thursday, July 6 from 11a to 7p.

Blood donors must be healthy, weigh at least 110 pounds, and be 17 years old or 16 with written parental consent. Donors must bring a valid photo ID.