Blood donors can ‘Drive Away a Hero’ in 2011 Jetta

Give blood at any United Blood Services donor center or blood drive in Arizona this summer, and you could “Drive Away a Hero” in a 2011 Jetta S, courtesy of Valley Volkswagen dealers. 

All June 1-Aug. 31 blood donors will be automatically entered to win. Blood donors will also receive a bonus chance entry that provides two more chances to win: register it at www.vwdealer.com/phoenix, and then, for the best odds, deposit it at any of the seven Maricopa County Volkswagen dealers. Nine names will be drawn as finalists throughout the summer to participate in the Sept. 21 grand prize drawing. The winner will drive away the proud owner of a 2011 Volkswagen Jetta S and a hero to Arizona hospital patients. To schedule an appointment to Find the Hero in You, call 1-877-827-4376 (toll free) or visit www.UnitedBloodServicesAZ.org. 

Maricopa residents can donate blood on Thursday, June 16, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Bloodmobile located at Harrah's Ak-Chin Casino, 15406 N Maricopa Road.

During the three-month summer campaign with Volkswagen dealers, the kids at Phoenix Children’s Hospital are expected to require more than 2,000 lifesaving transfusions.  Blood donors will help kids like 17-year-old Kellie, a Sunrise Mountain High School student who has strung together “beads of courage” to represent each of the 131 lifesaving blood transfusions she required during her battle against leukemia. 

Kellie experienced symptoms while on a camping trip in Show Low in 2004.   She was airlifted to Phoenix Children’s Hospital within hours, where immediate transfusions of platelets and red blood cells sustained her life. Kellie’s mom credits blood donors for restoring their hope. “She could barely lift her head off the pillow, but, after the first transfusion, she was dancing in her room within hours,” said Tammy. “It took just one unit of blood to change the life of our sick child.”

United Blood Services hopes to motivate people to donate more often this summer – to help more kids like Kellie and earn additional chances to win the 2011 Volkswagen Jetta S. “While donors are generally eligible to give blood every eight weeks, the majority (65 percent) donate just once a year,” said Audrey Jennings, Executive Director for United Blood Services.