NEW YORK, Aug. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- New
York Blood Center has joined blood donor organizations across 21
countries in the Missing Type campaign, which seeks to focus
public attention on the critical issue of declining blood donations
across all blood types. This creative campaign has earned the
support of organizations worldwide. Each participating entity
drops the letters "A", "B" and "O" – representing the three main
blood groups – from their logos, signs, websites, social media
platforms and email signatures. Organizations working
directly with NYBC on this effort include Morgan Stanley, Hard Rock
Café, City University of New York
(CUNY), National Grid and Kaufman Astoria Studios.
The campaign was first held in England and North
Wales by NHS Blood and Transplant in 2015, and this year
brings together 25 blood services from 21 countries,
representing more than one billion people. This year,
Missing Type letters will also be disappearing from famous
locations in Australia,
Japan, Ireland, England, and many more countries. Celebrities
supporting the campaign include actress Jamie Lee Curtis and rapper LL Cool J.
NYBC and Lauren Shields, a
sixteen-year-old blood recipient who needed life-saving blood
transfusions during her heart transplant in 2009, rang the opening
bell at the New York Stock Exchange to launch and support the
Missing Type campaign on Tuesday, August
9th.
Each second, three people across the world receive a life-saving
blood transfusion, thanks to selfless donors who answer the call to
donate. Yet participating blood services reported the number of
people becoming donors and giving blood for the first time has
decreased by 27.6% since 2005. In the
United States, there is a particular need for new donors
with O negative blood, the universal blood type, and donors of
minority backgrounds such as Latino/Hispanic and African American
community. The organizations are calling for new donors to ensure
blood donations and a steady supply for future generations.
Robert Purvis, Vice President of
NYBC said, "New York Blood Center is very proud to be part of
the international Missing Type campaign which has the power to
raise awareness globally on the every day need for blood –
especially O- which is the universal blood type and is always in
short supply. The campaign couldn't happen at a better time,
as August is such a high vacation month!"
You can start donating blood across the U.S. from age sixteen,
with a parent's written consent. O negative blood type, the
universal donor that is most reached for in the E.R., is found more
commonly within the Latino/Hispanic and African American
populations. However, these populations are underrepresented in the
donor pool, and with the increasing population rate, their
communities are in need.
"We need people to come out and support one another," Ms.
Shields said. "By donating your blood and your time, you are saving
a life just like mine. Blood is needed for transfusions during
organ transplants, or when someone is undergoing chemotherapy.
Without blood, and people who donated, I would not be here
today."
To sign up to donate, visit:
www.nybloodcenter.org/blood
or call Toll Free: 1-800-933-2566
About the New York Blood Center
Now more than 50 years old, New
York Blood Center (NYBC) is a nonprofit organization
that is one of the largest independent,
community-based blood centers in the country. NYBC, along
with its partner organizations Community Blood Center of
Kansas City, Missouri (CBC), and
Innovative Blood Resources (IBR), based St. Paul, Minnesota, collect approximately
2,000 units of blood products each day, serving local communities
of more than 25 million people in New
York, New Jersey, parts of
Connecticut and Pennsylvania, the Kansas City metropolitan area, Minnesota, and Nebraska.
NYBC and its partners also provide a wide array of
transfusion-related medical services, while NYBC's National Cord
Blood Program (NCBP) at the Howard P. Milstein Cord Blood Center is
home to the world's largest public cord blood bank. NYBC is also
home to a renowned research institute, which — among other
milestones — developed the Hepatitis B vaccine and
innovative blood-purification technology.
Website: www.nybloodcenter.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/newyorkbloodcenter
Twitter: @NYBloodCenter
Instagram: @newyorkbloodcenter
Media Contact:
Andrea M. Garcia
(212) 683-8100
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SOURCE New York Blood Center