American Red Cross
2425 Park Road
Charlotte, North Carolina 28203
704.376.1661
www.redcrosshelps.org

The Greater Carolinas Chapter of the American Red Cross adopted a blood program in 1947. PUMC has supported this effort since 1978. Beginning in 2000, PUMC and Trinity Presbyterian Church began a partnership to offer two Red Cross Blood Drives per year, each church hosting in either September or March. To emphasize the need for volunteers to donate blood, the Red Cross has released these statistics: 97% of the American population will receive a blood transfusion, yet only 5% of the population donates blood; one of ten persons entering a hospital needs a blood transfusion; every seventeen seconds, someone in the United State receives a blood transfusion. Charlotte has one of five Red Cross distribution centers in the Carolinas.

Founded in 1962, America's Blood Centers (ABC) is North America's largest network of non-profit community blood centers. In 2001, Charlotte area hospitals requested a study to determine the feasibility of starting an independent blood center to serve the metropolitan region. This led to formation of Community Blood Center of the Carolinas, one of seventy-five centers affiliated with ABC. CBCC's mission is to provide local control of the blood supply, ensuring that local needs are met first. CBCC provides 85% of the blood supply to these institutions: Carolinas Medical Health Care System and its Mercy, Pineville, and University Centers; Gaston Memorial Hospital; Northeast Medical Center; Piedmont Medical Center; Presbyterian Hospital and Orthopedic Hospital, as well as its Huntersville and Matthews sites. Any excess supply after supplying local needs, is shared with other communities. PUMC hosted its first CBCC drive in June 2004, with plans to host two drives per year, spaced between the Red Cross drives, to allow for the required eight week interval between donations.

To Share Your Gifts

• Donate blood at the four PUMC annual blood drives, if you are at least seventeen years old, weigh at least 110 pounds, and pass specific health requirements.

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