UK students, faculty and staff can now save lives by giving blood for the Kentucky Blood Center during the campus’ scheduled blood drives on Monday, April 3 through Friday, April 7.

Now with KBC’s 5-day blood drive on UK’s campus, the blood that will be collected is expected to be transported to Kentucky patients at more than 70 hospitals.

Director of Marketing for KBC, Denise Fields, encourages students to donate.

“Students can give at any of the 10 blood drives throughout campus this week,” Fields said.

Not only are campus blood donors saving lives, but they’ll also receive special gifts. 

“At these campus drives, students will receive a KBC hoodie (while sizes and supplies last) and a chance to win two tickets to see U2 in concert June 16 in Louisville,” Fields said. 

Before coming to donate, blood donors must meet KBC and blood donating guidelines. 

“Students should be at least 17 years old, feel well and have a photo I.D. when they come to donate. They should also be well hydrated and have had a meal within the previous two hours. To donate, they must weigh at least 110 pounds. Before they donate, they will fill out some paperwork that asks questions about their health history and travel history,” Fields said.

Walk-ins are welcome at any location during the blood drives schedule. If you decide to make an appointment, you can visit kybloodcenter.org and click on donor login. 

After donating, campus blood donors can do an optional cholesterol testing and can later see those results online when they create a donor account in the donor portal found at the bottom of KBC’s website. 

The Kentucky Blood Center is a community-based nonprofit organization that provides blood products to Kentucky hospitals. KBC is the largest FDA licensed nonprofit blood bank in the Commonwealth of Kentucky that relies on volunteers. 

The first ever KBC donor in 1968 was UK football coach John Ray, who gave blood in the basement of the Perkins Pancake House in Lexington. Since then, KBC has dedicated their time and effort to supply communities in need.

KBC is expected to have more blood drives on campus this coming fall for those who did not get the opportunity to donate this spring.