Other Types of Donations 

There are other ways you can help your community through different types of blood donations.  These are known as Apheresis.  Instead of giving one pint of whole blood (as in a regular donation), an apheresis donor gives only the components of blood needed, either plasma or platelets. These types of donation are made possible by an amazing machine that separates the components of your blood, retains certain ones, and returns the rest to you, all with a single needle.  It's a very efficient way of directly helping patients in hospitals. By collecting the necessary number of blood components at each donation, this can help ensure that these lifesaving products are available for the community.

Another important way to help patients in Central Valley hospitals is to sign up for the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) Registry.  Every year, hundreds of people of all ages are diagnosed with leukemia and other life-threatening diseases. Many of them will die unless they get a bone marrow from a matching donor. Unfortunately, very few people will find a match within their own family and depend on the NMDP Registry to find a match to save their life.