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CBCO Unveils Program Connecting Blood Donors With Recipients

NIAID
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Creative Commons, Used with permission

The Community Blood Center of the Ozarks has a new program that lets blood and plasma recipients thank their donors. 

Here’s how it works:  donated blood will be tagged with a green heart, encouraging recipients and their families to send a “thank you” message if they want to. The organization feels a simple “thank you” will go a long way to make donors feel appreciated. 

Chris Pilgrim is a spokesman for CBCO.  

 “This program is going to allow a blood recipient through a smartphone, tablet or computer to send a message, an anonymous message to that blood donor or to the healthcare professionals that administered that transfusion and thank them for what they do. We believe this is going to motivate donors a great deal putting a face and a voice to the donation that they give," Pilgrim said.

Jill Sanders works at CBCO and is also a frequent donor.  

I donate platelets and that’s something I can do every two weeks. Donors always like to know where the product ends up. We would like to know the people who do receive it. That would complete the process and that’s what the Thank a Donor program will do,” Sanders said.

This new program will be available to more than 40 hospitals that the CBCO services.