Sometimes I look for what blood bank offers the best swag before deciding when and where to donate blood.

Over the years, I have received coupons for free movie rentals from Hollywood Video; coupons for many AMC chain movie tickets; coupons for several Regal Theaters movie tickets; a few Darden's Restaurants gift cards; caps; a few dozen T-shirts; a cooler bag; a Perkin's Family Restaurant entree coupon; and some other stuff.

Check out our local blood banks with a Google search with Ocala and/or Leesburg and donating blood. You should get an idea of what kind of swag the various competing blood banks offer. Florida Blood Centers and Lifesouth are the two closest blood banks which compete for donors here in the Villages. There is also Florida Blood Services which is in the Tampa/St. Pete area.

[Larryandlinda]

Originally Posted by Taltarzac

Sometimes I look for what blood bank offers the best swag before deciding when and where to donate blood.

Over the years, I have received coupons for free movie rentals from Hollywood Video; coupons for many AMC chain movie tickets; coupons for several Regal Theaters movie tickets; a few Darden's Restaurants gift cards; caps; a few dozen T-shirts; a cooler bag; a Perkin's Family Restaurant entree coupon; and some other stuff.

Check out our local blood banks with a Google search with Ocala and/or Leesburg and donating blood. You should get an idea of what kind of swag the various competing blood banks offer. Florida Blood Centers and Lifesouth are the two closest blood banks which compete for donors here in the Villages. There is also Florida Blood Services which is in the Tampa/St. Pete area.

Thanks for being a blood donor, it's like giving life!!

One of us is a frequent donor (the minimum wait is something like 8 weeks?) to make up for the one who cannot.

Red Cross is our preferred collector, but we opt out of the swag.
We have enough Chinese T's and Caps, and for that matter so do most people.
We didn't know about the food spiffs, but those sound like appropriate things to donate and/or re-gift to the truly needy and hungry.

Something has always seemed eerie about selling blood or doing it for the goods.

The eeriest of the eerie was seeing all the blood plasma donation centers around poor neighborhoods and gambling spots.

It was bad enough visiting pawn shops to see some of the personal items people have hocked to gamble and pay off gambling debt, then to see that people sell blood for the same reason......
that was enough to curdle the blod and make the veins tingle.

For your convenience, here's a link to donation centers, as suggested when we called the Red Cross, who do not collect blood in Florida.

They may send vans and buses or do remote collections too.

http://www.floridasbloodcenters.org/...locations.stml


L and L

Originally Posted by Larryandlinda

Thanks for being a blood donor, it's like giving life!!

One of us is a frequent donor (the minimum wait is something like 8 weeks?) to make up for the one who cannot.

Red Cross is our preferred collector, but we opt out of the swag.
We have enough Chinese T's and Caps, and for that matter so do most people.
We didn't know about the food spiffs, but those sound like appropriate things to donate and/or re-gift to the truly needy and hungry.

Something has always seemed eerie about selling blood or doing it for the goods.

The eeriest of the eerie was seeing all the blood plasma donation centers around poor neighborhoods and gambling spots.

It was bad enough visiting pawn shops to see some of the personal items people have hocked to gamble and pay off gambling debt, then to see that people sell blood for the same reason......
that was enough to curdle the blod and make the veins tingle.

For your convenience, here's a link to donation centers, as suggested when we called the Red Cross, who do not collect blood in Florida.

They may send vans and buses or do remote collections too.

http://www.floridasbloodcenters.org/...locations.stml


L and L

For donating whole blood, the minimum wait between donations is 56 days or 8 weeks as you wrote.

I am not sure that the Red Cross collects blood in the Central Florida area. I have never seen a Red Cross Blood collection facility or mobile in Ocala, nor Tampa/St.Pete nor Leesburg.

I have noted the various donate for cash places though. I always have avoided these are there are often less than desirable people as friends and/or acquaintances hanging around them. That's probably why I have not donated more blood over the years as the main places available in Nevada/Northern California, Phoenix, Chicago and Minneapolis were places where you donated blood and could get money in return.

The Florida Blood Centers also often did not offer any kind of swag if you donated. Once in a while they do. I have donated often there with no swag in return but just to help someone else. LifeSouth and the Florida Blood Services almost always offer some kind of recognition item for donating like a T-shirt, carry bag, or something like this.

[Pturner]

I've always donated blood through the Red Cross. Are there Red Cross centers near TV and Red Cross drives at TV? That would continue to be my preference.

If not, I would at least want to know more about the agency collecting the blood. Can someone enlighten me on this?

[zcaveman]

When I was stationed in Memphis in 1962, we used to get $15 at the hospital. We called it vampire liberty.

[iandwk]

In my Navy days I didn't make much money. There were places that would pay a poor sailor $25 for a pint of blood. That was almost 2 weeks pay, and we gladly took the money. We called it "Vampire Liberty." While sitting in a class one day the guy next to me fainted and crashed to the floor. Turns out he had given blood three times in the past 5 weeks at three different centers. They actually had to give him plasma and banned him from giving more blood for money.

I do it for free now.
I'd still do it for $25 if someone would pay it. I ain't proud.

Originally Posted by Pturner

I've always donated blood through the Red Cross. Are there Red Cross centers near TV and Red Cross drives at TV? That would continue to be my preference.

If not, I would at least want to know more about the agency collecting the blood. Can someone enlighten me on this?

I have never seen a Red Cross blood mobile here in TV.

LifeSouth is often in the Villages with a Blood Mobile. They are sometimes at Lowes, Subway, Sam's Club, and other places. They had come to Bruster's a few times too.
http://www.lifesouth.org/

Florida Blood Centers also have a Blood Mobile that comes to various places in the Villages. I often see them near churches and sometimes near Publix and Walmart.

There is a Florida Blood Center's facility just off of US 27/441 across from the Villages AAA and near the postal center. It is moving soon to near where the Albertson's used to be and also near Blockbusters and Subway. https://www.fbcdonor.org/

I have seldom had any problems donating blood with either of these agencies. Florida Blood Services in Tampa/St. Pete is another story though and have experienced blood takers who do not seem to be very adept with putting the needle into the vein.

Have heard some complaints about Florida Blood Centers and claims about what hospitals they give their collected blood to, but I do not know any more about that. My lesson from that was that it is best not to wear Florida Blood Center t-shirts or hats though when donating at LifeSouth nor mentioned either competing agency when in earshot of the other.