Day: December 4, 2024

South Texas Blood & Tissue is partnering with the San Antonio Food Bank again to save lives and fight hunger at the same time. 

Blood donors can take part in the Double Your Impact campaign by giving their Reward Store points to the San Antonio Food Bank until Dec. 31.  

What better way to spread holiday cheer than by saving lives and fighting hunger? Last year, donors helped provide 215,575 meals to hungry families across San Antonio.  

San Antonio Food Bank serves approximately 105,000 people weekly. During the holiday season, more families find themselves in need. According to statics from SA2020 approximately 14% of San Antonians were struggling from food insecurity in 2021.   

We can continue to combat that statistic by giving back to the community in great ways. Either by donating blood, or helping fight hunger, we can help make an impact.  

To get involved, schedule your blood donation here: South Texas Blood – Donor Portal or call 210-731-5590. 

For more information on how you can Double Your Impact, saves lives and combat hunger, visit  SouthTexasBlood.org/DonorRewards.

Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. Cristina Sosa Noriega understands San Antonio culture to a T. It shows in every piece of her art. That is why she was specially commissioned by South Texas Blood & Tissue to create a mural for our newly renovated Southeast Donor Center. Cristina is the newest addition to our BioBridge Global Art Collection. 

Cristina’s mural depicts actual donors and recipients that have come through our doors, including Uvalde shooting survivor Mayah Zamora and her donor hero, 17-year-old Adrianna Garcia.  

“She’s [Mayah’s] in there as well as other donors of different backgrounds, just to show anyone can be a donor,” Cristina said. “You can be a woman, a man, you can be old, you can be young, and it’s not hard…It’s a pretty simple thing and it’s totally worth it.”  

The Sacred Heart in the center of Cristina’s piece is symbolic in Mexican American culture. The arteries connecting the donors represent not just the spiritual, but physical connection that donation entails.  

Cristina said she wanted people to see the vignettes of donors and feel a “sense of joy.”  

Since youth, Cristina wanted to be an artist. She attended university and got a job in advertising and marketing. It wasn’t until 2005 that she decided to dedicate her life to art for the first time.   

She and her husband Victor moved to Alpine, Texas, where they sold snow cones out of a historical building in the Hispanic side of the town. The family decided to move back to the Alamo City, where Christina landed her dream job as the Marketing Director of the DoSeum, the prestigious children’s science museum.  

Life was good, but deep in Cristina’s heart, she knew she wanted to do art again. She recently began her full-time venture back into her craft, and she’s never been happier. She is a wife, mother, portrait painter and muralist.  

Some of Cristina’s work can be seen at UTSA Downtown’s School of Data Science, and down the street at 114 Main Plaza, where she showcases the Girl Scouts centennial. Cristina also has connections in Uvalde, where she painted a larger-than-life depiction of 10-year-old Amerie Jo Garza, a casualty of the Uvalde shooting.  

Win a leather Harley-Davidson jacket and helmet as part of the holiday blood drive

South Texas Blood & Tissue is partnering with area Harley-Davidson dealerships to give donors a chance to win the ultimate bikers package in December.

Anyone who donates blood at the Dec. 7 drive at Gruene Harley-Davidson in New Braunfels or the Dec. 21 drive at Javelina Harley-Davidson in Boerne will be entered into a drawing for one of two custom leather jacket and helmet packages.

Donors also will receive an H-E-B gift card valued between $10-$150 during H-E-B’s Lucky Draw giveaway, as well as a coupon for a bag of H-E-B Café Olé coffee, sustainably sourced from more than 20 coffee regions internationally. The coupon is good for one 12-ounce bag of coffee (ground or whole beans), or a 12-count box of single pods.

The need for blood never slows down – even during the holidays – especially for people like 10-year-old Lyric, who was born with sickle cell disease. Lyric needs regular blood transfusions to help ease the crippling pain that comes with the disease.

Her mother Shanice says “You’re doing more than you could even imagine as far as saving a life…It affects people in so many ways. For sickle cell, it’s our lifeline.”

Participating Blood Drives:

Dec. 7 – Gruene Harley-Davidson

11 a.m.-3 p.m.

1288 Loop 337, New Braunfels, TX 78130

Dec. 21 – Javelina Harley-Davidson

10 a.m.- 2 p.m. 29078 IH-10 West, Boerne, TX 78006

Schedule your blood donation by visiting SouthTexasBlood.org.