Washington, DC – Attendees at HOSA-Future Health Professionals’ 2022 International Leadership Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, which concluded Saturday, donated 347 units of blood, which will save an estimated 1040 lives. The event kicked off the new national partnership between America’s Blood Centers (ABC), the national organization of community-based, independent blood centers that supply 60 percent of the nation’s blood supply, and HOSA-Future Health Professionals, a 260,000 member-led organization in 5,000 schools and colleges across 48 states. The drive was conducted by Blood Assurance, a Tennessee-based ABC member blood center.
“This blood drive’s astounding success exceeded all expectations. HOSA students are tomorrow’s health care professionals, but they are already changing lives for the better today through their decision to take time out of their conference to donate blood. This is a strong start to our new national partnership as we work to build the next generation of lifelong blood donors and promote careers across the blood community,” said Kate Fry, Chief Executive Officer at America’s Blood Centers.
“Having collaborated with a variety of blood collection centers over the years, HOSA appreciates the opportunity to partner with America’s Blood Centers (ABC) to assist in overcoming the serious blood shortage in the U.S.” explained Dr. Jim Koeninger, Executive Director, HOSA-Future Health Professionals. “We are especially pleased that the partnership agreement allows greater coordination, provides extraordinary recognition of HOSA’s high performing chapters and state associations in collecting blood at regional, state, and national conferences. Future Health Professionals value the collection of life-saving blood.”
“The response we saw from more than 300 attendees was nothing short of remarkable,” according to J.B. Gaskins, CEO of Blood Assurance. “Our sincere thanks to HOSA and America’s Blood Centers for allowing us to be part of this awe-inspiring event. In a time when many longtime blood donors are becoming blood recipients, it gives us hope to see that there are so many altruistic young people who understand the importance of being someone’s hero by donating the gift of life. This past weekend, countless lives were saved because of them.”
ABC recently released a first of its kind guide that highlighted how one donation can help two or more patients in need. Each donation can be separated into more than one blood product including but not limited to red blood cells, plasma, and platelets.
ABC and HOSA’s multi-year national partnership will encourage blood donation and careers at community blood centers. As part of the agreement, ABC will recognize HOSA chapters and state associations for outstanding achievements in the collection of blood at HOSA’s annual International Leadership Conference beginning with their 2023 event in Dallas, Texas.
Founded in 1962, America’s Blood Centers is the national organization bringing together community-based, independent blood centers. Its member organizations operate more than 600 blood collection sites providing close to 60 percent of the U.S., and a quarter of the Canadian, blood supply. These blood centers serve more than 150 million people and provide blood products and services to more than 3,500 hospitals and healthcare facilities across North America. All ABC U.S. members are licensed and regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. For more information, visit www.AmericasBlood.org.
HOSA-Future Health Professionals provides a unique program of leadership development, motivation, and recognition exclusively for secondary, postsecondary, middle school, adult, and collegiate students enrolled in health science education and biomedical science programs or have interests in pursuing careers in health professions. Since its inception in 1976, HOSA has grown steadily, reaching over 2.5 million members through 54 chartered HOSA Associations across the country and around the world. For more information, visit www.HOSA.org.
Blood Assurance is a nonprofit, full-service regional blood center serving healthcare facilities in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky and North Carolina. Its mission is to provide a safe and adequate supply of blood and blood components in a cost-effective manner to every area patient in need. For more information, visit www.bloodassurance.org.
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