Why do we donate?
We donate for our family, friends and our neighbors to enhance and save lives in our community. Donors, especially those who donate regularly, keep our region’s blood supply stable. The blood bank is a bridge between healthy donors and sick patients. Although many people donate blood after disasters, blood is needed every day of the year.
We need YOU!
At the Central Pennsylvania Blood Bank, our goal is to educate you, inform you, and help you get involved! We need people, like you, to help us save the lives of your family members, friends, and neighbors right here in Central Pennsylvania.
• Every 2 seconds a blood transfusion is performed in the U.S.
• 62% of the U.S. population is eligible to donate
• 3% of the U.S. population donates blood each year
• Blood shortages are unfortunately common, and blood banks rely on repeat donors to continuously replenish the blood supply
• There is no substitute for blood even though multiple attempts have been made to develop one.
• Certain blood components, like platelets, only last 7 days. Newborns and cancer patients are two patient groups who are dependent upon platelets.
• Of all U.S. blood donors, 54.1% are female and 45.9% are male
• More than 1 quarter of the U.S. blood supply is used by patients battling cancer
• An average adult has about 10.5 pints of blood in their body
• Red blood cells have a shelf life of 42 days, plasma can be frozen & last up to a year, and platelets must be transfused within 7 days
