DELMARVA - The Blood Bank of Delmarva is donating $1 to the Global Blood Fund to support relief in Ukraine for every person that gives blood this month.
The Global Blood Fund is working to relocate Ukrainian refugees to the United States, Canada, and other countries of refuge.
Blood donors must request the $1 be donated on their behalf when signing up for their appointment or in-person at the appointment. For those who already gave blood this month, they can call the Blood Bank or go to their donor portal to request the dollar be donated.
The Blood Bank of Delmarva hopes this brings attention and support to two crises: the Ukraine crisis and the national blood shortage crisis. Communications Specialist, Tony Prado, says the goal is to provide relief in Ukraine while encouraging more people at home to give blood.
"It's not uncommon in the last couple weeks to look at the schedule and see 17 or 15 appointments filled out of 40 or 45 appointments," Prado said. "So, we're making an effort to tie in the global blood fund effort to the need for platelets."
Prado says blood donation first began during World War II, and that war can exacerbate a blood shortage. While he says they don't know how the Ukraine crisis is impacting the shortage, he hopes it's not an additional obstacle.
"I don't know what kind of shape their blood supply is in," Prado said. "I mean, if it's anything like us, it's been in the pits. We're still emerging out of this pandemic. I mean, we lost 5,000 donors during the two-year period known as the pandemic. So, I just hope and pray that Ukraine is able to meet the needs of the hospitals in terms of their blood supply."
To make an appointment or donate more money to the Global Blood Fund, you can find more information at delmarvablood.org/ukraine.