Friendly competition brings more than 250 blood donations to area under blood crisis
District 7 has claimed first place in the “SA District Challenge,” the competition sponsored by South Texas Blood & Tissue that featured blood drives hosted by each of the 10 City Council districts.
Members of the community came out between Jan. 17-27 to support their district and local patients in need of blood, making more than 250 donations during the campaign.
District 7 Councilmember Ana Sandoval won the challenge with 59 donations, followed by District 2 Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and District 8 Manny Pelaez. The next SA District Challenge is being planned for summer 2022.
“I’m proud of my council colleagues and their staff for organizing another successful round of blood drives,” said District 7 City Councilwoman Ana Sandoval. “I look forward to the next competition, and I am grateful for opportunities like these for organizations to team up with council districts to give back to the community.”
The challenge helped the community blood supply when several blood drives were canceled during a surge of Omicron-related cases of COVID-19. This is the third competition organized by councilmember Sandoval and her staff to promote National Blood Donor Month with South Texas Blood & Tissue, a subsidiary of BioBridge Global.
“The district drives helped build the community supply when our community was in a blood emergency and saw an unprecedented blood shortage,” said Adrienne Mendoza, Chief Operating Officer at South Texas Blood & Tissue. “We look forward to working with each district and continue to grow the friendly competition.”
The need for blood never ends. Donors who were unable to donate during the SA District Challenge still can give at a South Texas Blood & Tissue drive or donor room. Make an appointment or host a blood drive by visiting SouthTexasBlood.org or calling 210-731-5590. Same-day appointments and walk-ins are available at the center’s eight donor rooms, as well as at community blood drives. All donors in February receive a $10 Amazon gift card. Donors at least 17 years old (16 with parental consent) and in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood.
