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  • Sunrise Mall blood drive offers donors free State Fair tickets

    blood mobile, blood source
    A Blood Source “bloodmobile” out at Sunrise Mall during a blood drive earlier this year.

    In exchange for giving a pint of blood at a “bloodmobile” station at Sunrise Mall this weekend, donors will be able to redeem a free ticket to the California State Fair — part of the latest effort to help a local nonprofit boost blood supplies.

    Setting up four times a year in the Mall’s Elephant Bar parking lot, BloodSource relies on such blood drives to help achieve its goal of drawing about 700 pints a day to supply over 40 hospitals in Northern and Central California with blood, according to BloodSource Public Relations Manager Alexander Sigua.

    BloodSource uses a variety of promotional offers during their blood drives, with the organization’s most recent February drive offering two free tickets to a Sacramento Kings game. Staff said the previous drive drew more than 100 pints of blood in the first six hours, with “quite a few” pints coming from new donors as well.

    Although it can take about an hour to donate, BloodSource’s Gayle Graves said each blood donation helps save “at least three lives.”

    “So many times you’re asked to give money for so many different things,” Graves told The Sentinel during the past blood drive in February. “This doesn’t cost you a thing, it just costs an hour of your time.”

    The California State Fair will be held at Cal Expo from July 10 through 26. BloodSource says donors giving blood this weekend will receive 200 “MyBloodSource” points which can be redeemed online for a free ticket to the Fair.
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    Blood drive info:
    June 19-21, 2015
    When:
    Friday: 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
    Saturday: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
    Sunday: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
    Where: Sunrise Mall (Elephant Bar parking lot)

  • Sunrise Mall blood drive offers free movie tickets

    Updated Dec. 27, 5:29 p.m.–
    Last-minute gift shoppers at Sunrise Mall had a chance to squeeze in an extra gift on Christmas Eve, as “Blood Mobiles” were set up in the parking lot offering free movie tickets to those who helped infuse supplies during a customarily low donation season.

    BloodSource Blood Mobiles in Citrus Heights Sunrise Mall
    A “Blood Mobile” parked outside Sunrise Mall during a prior blood drive. // Courtesy, BloodSource

    “The holiday season typically sees a dip in blood donations, but the need for constant blood supply remains the same,” said BloodSource Public Relations Manager Alexander Sigua, adding the organization strives to draw an average of 700 pints of blood each day in order to meet the needs of patients across Northern and Central California.

    He cited a variety of reasons for the seasonal downturn, like potential donors’ minds being focused on holiday shopping and travel, but stressed it’s “critically important” for generous donors to roll up their sleeves this time of year and help save a life.

    Sigua also said BloodSource buses were out at Sunrise Mall over Thanksgiving weekend, bringing about 550 donors out, including 66 who had never donated before.

    Although Sigua said the free movie ticket offer was a short-term promotional, BloodSource regularly accepts donations at over a dozen of its centers around the state, with the closest being in Fair Oaks.

    BloodSource is a Sacramento-based nonprofit primarily serving over 40 hospitals and 30 counties in Northern and Central California.