Stanford Blood Center Launches Campaign To Increase Donations
2002
Attention News Desk: Press Release (for immediate release)
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Michele Gassaway (650) 723-8237
mgassaway@stanford.edu
Michelle Brandt (650) 723-0272
mbrandt@stanford.edu
BROADCAST MEDIA CONTACT:
Neale Mulligan (650) 724-2454
nealem@stanford.edu
STANFORD, Calif. - The Stanford Blood Center has launched a campaign to encourage
donations during the holiday period when the need for blood often increases
and supplies diminish. In the campaign, new flags showing Lucile Packard
Children's Hospital patient Xitlali Alvarez line El Camino Real between Sand
Hill Road and Page Mill Road. The flags, which also line Welch Road where
the Blood Center is located, read, "Save a life - Donate blood!"
Known simply as Lali by her nurses, the 3-year-old leukemia patient goes through
numerous units of blood during her chemotherapy treatments at the medical center.
Lali's parents understand firsthand the gift of blood donation. "There's really
no way we can express in words what it's meant to us," said her father, Robert
Alvarez.
"Our hope is to show people one of the many patients they help when they donate
blood," said Michele Gassaway, spokesperson for the blood center. "We constantly
struggle to get enough blood donors to meet the demands of the hospitals we serve.
Lali is alive today because people took the time to donate blood."
Gassaway explained that during the holidays, family activities and planning
often stand in the way of making donations. "We understand that people are
busy but hospital patients like Lali continue to need blood," she said.
The Stanford Blood Center faces the new challenge of supplying blood to the
Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System in addition to Packard Children's
Hospital, Stanford Hospital & Clinics, El Camino Hospital and O'Connor
Hospital in San Jose. To meet demand, the blood center hopes to increase collection
by 20 percent in the coming year.
Donors are urged to call (650) 723-7831 or toll-free (888) 723-7831 to make
an appointment, learn hours of operation and get directions. Donors should
be in good health with no cold or flu symptoms. They must eat well prior to
donation, drink fluids and present photo identification at the time of donation.
The process takes about an hour, and a single donation can help up to three
different patients in need of blood.
For more information or to schedule an appointment online, please visit http://bloodcenter.stanford.edu.
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Stanford University Medical Center integrates research,
medical education and patient care at its three institutions - Stanford
University School of Medicine, Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile
Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford. For more information, please
visit the Web site of the medical center's Office of Communication & Public
Affairs at http://mednews.stanford.edu.