Stand apart from your fellow graduates on Graduation Day!

You’ve already donated two times with CBCC since August 1st; donate at one of our five donor centers (Charlotte, Gastonia, Concord, Hickory, Monroe) just one more time between now and the end of your school year and you’ll be eligible to wear a red honor cord at your commencement ceremony*.

Here at CBCC, we think it’s important to recognize our young donors for their selfless efforts in supporting local patients. Each blood donation saves up to three lives. If you donate a third time, you can proudly wear your red honor cord knowing that in one school year, you personally saved the lives of nine local patients.

Call 704.972.4700 to schedule your appointment to donate today at one of our five donors centers or click here to schedule your appointment online.

*Not all schools allow donor cords to be worn; be sure to check with your advisor first

Donate blood or platelets in the Hickory Center and receive a free premium frozen yogurt at the Hickory Sweet Frog location!

Book your next appointment at our Hickory Center today. We are located at 2217 Highway 70 SE across from Hickory Furniture Mart and are open Sunday through Tuesday for your convenience. We have additional donation centers in Charlotte, Gastonia, Concord and Monroe as well as many mobile drives throughout the community every day! You can also email tkochalka@cbcc.us to schedule or call 704.972.4700.

April donors who present at the Hickory Center may also enter to win a free trip to Nashville! 

Register now for the annual Keep Pounding blood drive at Bank of America Stadium on Wednesday, May 1 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Hosted by the Carolina Panthers and Community Blood Center of the Carolinas, the blood drive will benefit more than 21 area hospitals.

All donors will receive a Keep Pounding blood drive T-shirt and be eligible to win autographed Panthers memorabilia and VIP trips to Panthers training camp at Wofford College. Stadium tours will be given at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to pre-registered donors. Additionally, Panthers team mascot Sir Purr will make special appearances throughout the day.

Appointments are preferred and can be made by calling Lenora Tibbs from the Community Blood Center of the Carolinas at 704-972-4733 or by visiting http://www.carolinadonor.org/, clicking on donate and entering the sponsor code Panthers. For every pint of blood that is collected at the blood drive on May 1, the Community Blood Center of the Carolinas will make a financial contribution to the Keep Pounding Fund to support cancer research efforts at Carolinas Medical Center.

The blood drive will take place in the Visiting Team Locker Room, located on the stadium’s ground level. Donors should enter Bank of America Stadium via Morehead Street and follow directional signs from the Morehead Street parking lot to the blood drive entrance.

Donors who are unable to attend the blood drive on May 1 can still give blood through May 31 at any Community Blood Center of the Carolinas location and receive a Keep Pounding blood drive T-shirt. Those wishing to participate in the Keep Pounding blood drive after May 1 must pre-register and use sponsor code 7245.

The Community Blood Center of the Carolinas was formed in 2002 through the combined efforts of four hospital systems in the region and provides more than 90 percent of the blood supply to 21 area hospitals in North and South Carolina.

An average of 79 people receives organ transplants daily. Every transplant procedure requires a blood transfusion of several units of blood, but the blood must be compatible. Your blood counts!

Did You Know?

• Many life-saving medical treatments require blood transfusions.

• One in seven people will need a blood transfusion sometime in their lifetime.

• Blood needs to be donated, tested, ready and available for transfusion BEFORE it’s needed.

• An average of 79 people receives organ transplants daily.

• More than 115,000 men, women and children currently need life-saving organ transplants.

• Every transplant procedure requires a blood transfusion, but the blood must be compatible.

• A patient could be forced to pass up a life-saving organ if compatible blood is not available to support the transplant.

• Blood is not an organ. It is tissue and is transplanted like other tissues including: skin, bone, tendons, bone marrow and stem cells.

• Transplants often require several units of blood products for transfusions. Your blood counts!

Spring into action and give blood today. You are helping pass the gift of life on to those undergoing transplants in our local hospitals. Visit one of our five donor centers or donate at one of our mobile blood drives. Sign up at www.carolinadonor.org or call 704.972.4700.

This exciting trip includes one night accommodations for two at the luxurious Loews Vanderbilt Hotel in downtown Nashville, breakfast for two, and a trip to the Nashville Zoo. This package also includes a free breakfast, lunch, or dinner at 417 Union Classic American Dining; and, the opportunity to receive personally autographed pictures of Faith Hill and Tim McGraw.

Want to win? Donate blood or platelets at one of our Centers – Charlotte, Concord, Hickory, Gastonia or Monroe, during April and complete the “I Want to Go to Music City” entry form – It’s that Easy! Approximate odds of winning are 1 in 1000!

Schedule your appointment online, reply to tkochalka@cbcc.us or call 704-972-4700.

Donors must complete the official entry form to be entered for a chance to win. Donors may complete one form each time they present to donate in April; contest applies only to Center donations. Raffle results will be announced by May 15, 2013. 

Maintain a healthy and iron-rich diet when giving blood!

Why?

• You need good iron to donate blood, so be proactive with your iron intake.
• Iron is an essential mineral in your body; it’s important for increasing hemoglobin levels, helping cells work properly and carrying oxygen throughout your body.

Did You Know?

• A majority of blood donation deferrals are due to low iron.
• Iron is a component of hemoglobin, but is not the same as hemoglobin.
• The amount of iron you need varies dependent on age and gender.
• Getting deferred for iron deficiency does not mean that you are anemic or deferred indefinitely. You can try and donate again as early as the next day.

Tricks and Tips

• Drink plenty of water and stay nourished with iron-rich food such as meats, eggs, shrimp, leafy greens and whole grain breads.
• When you consume iron-rich food, include a source of Vitamin C – it helps with iron absorption.
• Avoid eating dairy products 2 hours before and after you consume iron-rich foods.
• Avoid coffee, tea and soda when trying to boost your iron levels because they can inhibit iron absorption.

Taking these simple steps can mean the difference in helping save up to three local lives. So start getting pumped up – with iron – and schedule your donation appointment today! Visit www.carolinadonor.org or call 704-972-4700.

So far we have 44 people who have accepted the challenge to donate twice before the end of June. Were you interested in making the commitment to save lives in 2013? There is still time to sign up!

Click here for more details.

• Thomas Carrig
• Tyrone Chandler
• Joseph Davis
• Kevin Dunne
• Stephen Jackson
• Richard Matulis
• Terry Rennaker
• Sam Spencer
• Jeff Ward
• Bradley Woodard

We wanted to ask these donors why they made the commitment to give. Every week we will showcase some of their stories, in their words.

“My name is Terry Rennaker I am 66 years old. I have been giving blood since 1970. In 1988 I was given the honor of being a 10 gallon donor.  When I was in Vietnam I was given blood when I was injured so when I came back to the States I wanted to give back.

My wife Flo and I have been married going on 24 years in May. She is the light of my life. I retired in 1997 from the Dana Corporation in Marion, Indiana and we felt the Lord leading us to Wilkes County North Carolina and we have lived here every since. We enjoy the mountains  and the people of North Carolina who have made us feel like this is our home.

We are very committed to our community and help out when ever we can. We have been involved with Merlefest this will be our 14th year. We have volunteered for Samaritan Kitchen for 7 years and that is feeding the hungry in our community along with Project Joy for Christmas and Project Backpack  where we fed close to 700 children every week that they had school. We also volunteer for our church and very involved with them. Then I have a disaster trailer and work with the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief program where we go into disasters and cut trees or whatever is needed. I cut wood for some of our elderly neighbors and give them the wood or for someone who can’t afford to buy wood will try and help them out.

Then of course coming to Charlotte ever 6 weeks or so to give blood to the blood bank. My wife and I usually make a day of it and have dinner or visit friends in the area.”

-Terry Rennaker

• Thomas Carrig
• Tyrone Chandler
• Joseph Davis
• Kevin Dunne
• Stephen Jackson
• Richard Matulis
• Terry Rennaker
• Sam Spencer
• Jeff Ward
• Bradley Woodard

We wanted to ask these donors why they made the commitment to give. Every week we will showcase some of their stories, in their words.

“ Anyway, my passion for donating blood started some 15 years ago when I was a match for a young woman with a rare blood disorder. They gave her only a few years to live as she needed 3 transfusions a month. So, I was a directed donor until I left New Jersey back in 2005. I understand that she is alive and doing very well today, living beyond expectations with a good quality of life.

The primary reason for my commitment to donating blood is that I was saved by a blood donor…Jesus Christ and by His grace and mercy, we all have the power to save lives and it’s in our blood. As I tell people, it’s best way to anonymously give back to your community. I am financially poor, so I have to look for other ways to pay it forward and blood donations don’t cost me anything, take very little time and could save someone’s life! I also reduce my own risk of heart disease by donating at least twice a year! If I were ever in an accident and desperately needed blood, I would want to know that the blood supply were there. So, I continue to do my part by donating as often as I can.

As for family, I have a son, Ryan, 29 and a daughter, Megan, 26 that both live in New Jersey. I love to golf and cook and follow the Carolina Panthers. Besides giving blood, I sponsored a blood drive called the Alexis Smith Memorial for 5 years until we reached our goal of 500 pints, which were collected in honor of a fallen 23 year old friend in an effort to keep her name alive in a positive way. I have been involved with A Child’s Place in Charlotte. I am active in my church family New Charlotte Church. Basically, I have made my life a “service station” to help the least and the lost as Jesus commanded us to do and it’s the most rewarding life I could have ever imagined.

God bless all that the CBCC does for Charlotte and thank you for the opportunity to be of service.”

-Kevin Dunne

• Thomas Carrig
• Tyrone Chandler
• Joseph Davis
• Kevin Dunne
• Stephen Jackson
• Richard Matulis
• Terry Rennaker
• Sam Spencer
• Jeff Ward
• Bradley Woodard

We wanted to ask these donors why they made the commitment to give. Every week we will showcase some of their stories, in their words.

“I give blood with CBCC because it’s a great way to give back to our community – over 90% of donations stay in the Carolinas.* I feel a moral responsibility to be a blood donor since I’m an eligible, healthy, universal donor – only 37% of Americans are eligible to donate blood, and less than 10% actually do.  If my donations can be the donations that prevent a blood shortage in the Charlotte region, then it’s up to someone like me to be that donor. One of the main reasons I gave blood seven times this year is to help “change the equation” for blood donations in Charlotte. If each eligible donor gave blood one more time each year, blood shortages would be a thing of the past. I’m happy to give my time – and blood – to the great people at CBCC.”

-Sam Spencer

*CBCC Note: CBCC is the primary supplier to area hospitals