America's Blood Centers Recognizes Two Local Organizations

One organization is a well-known local sports team. The other is a lesser-known group that spreads knowledge on the importance of pet blood donation.  

So what do they have in common? Both the Cincinnati Reds and the Care Center Animal Hospital are being recognized for their exceptional effort in saving lives through blood donations.

America's Blood Centers (ABC) is North America's largest network of community-based, independent blood programs and provides half of the United States and a quarter of the Canadian blood supply. Hoxworth Blood Center is a long-standing member of the lifesaving organization.

ABC has awarded the Cincinnati Reds with this year's title of "Most Productive" blood drive and Care Center Animal Hospital with "Most Creative" blood drive.

"Hoxworth Blood Center is the steward of the local blood supply," said Ronald Sacher, MD, professor of hematology oncology at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and director of Hoxworth Blood Center. "We count on the generosity of volunteer blood donors and corporate partnerships in order to meet the needs of patients in 31 area hospitals. We are grateful to the Cincinnati Reds and Care Center Animal Hospital for their commitment to our mission and we congratulate them on receiving this national honor."

Over the past nine years, the Cincinnati Reds blood drive has grown from a one-day drive collecting 104 units to a week-long blood drive event at all of the Hoxworth Neighborhood Donor Centers where 2,146 blood products were collected.

The Care Center's dual blood drive collected human blood for Hoxworth, while also registering four-legged blood donors for their canine blood bank. The event featured many organizations on site that support animals, while Care staff and board members served up hotdogs and sno-cones. 

The Cincinnati Reds organization and the Care Center were both recognized at the annual Hoxworth Blood Center Volunteer Awards luncheon on Saturday, April 23, 2016 at the Montgomery Inn Boathouse.