Update: The Blood Connection soft-opened on Jan. 6, 2020, and will host an official Grand Opening for the public on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 4 p.m.
Our New Year’s resolutions: Exercise more, swear less, and save lives.
That third resolution? Not a joke, and easier than you may think. DYK one blood donation has the power to save up to three local lives? It’s quick + easy, and you can donate every 56 days. That’s six times a year, a.k.a. 18 potential lives saved.
The Blood Connection (TBC) – which has hosted many mobile drives in the Charleston area since April – will be opening its first CHS donation center this January at 5780 Core Ave. in North Charleston. At a center, donors can give more types of donations , like plasma, platelets + red blood cells. It’s also a more relaxed, spacious, almost spa-like environment for the donor compared to a bus. TBC can serve 10 donors per hour, for both whole blood donations + apheresis (platelets or plasma donations) so there’s pretty much no wait.
The newly-renovated 15,000-sqft. donation center will have a donor room with a registration area, screening rooms + refreshment area (hey, free snacks), all equipped with brand new equipment and furniture. The center will also have a blood distribution hub + reference lab, allowing TBC to distribute blood donations more efficiently to its hospital partners in the CHS area, like Roper St. Francis Healthcare , to which TBC began supplying blood at the beginning of 2019. That means when you give with TBC, you’re helping your Charleston neighbors.
Rendering of The Blood Connection’s new 15,000-sqft. Charleston center | Image provided
The new center will be open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. on weekdays + 7 a.m.-5 p.m. on weekends, and while walk-ins are welcome, donors are encouraged to make their appointments to give online (which also means a more convenient, quicker donor experience).
Want to donate before January? All Charleston-area mobile drives are listed here .
Here’s a sneak peek of the inside of the center, opening next month:
Waiting room in The Blood Connection’s new center | Photo by CHStoday
Donor chairs in The Blood Connection’s new center | Photo by CHStoday
Quiz
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