"50 Years of Saving Lives Across the Peninsula"
Blood Bank of Delmarva

It’s just 16 ounces – a small bag of red .uid – but for the thousands of people battling cancer across Delmarva it is, literally, a lifesaver.

For more than 50 years, the Blood Bank of Delmarva has made sure blood has been available to cancer patients, accident victims, new mothers and babies and all who need it, when they need it.

It wasn’t always this way. In the 1950s, Delmarva hospitals routinely requested that people who required blood transfusions supply two donors to the hospital for every pint of blood used. It was a tremendous burden on the patient and the hospitals had a dif.cult time keeping enough blood on hand every day.

That was until a group of forward thinking community leaders created the Blood Bank of Delaware and the revolutionary “Blood Assurance Plan” – a program that provided blood replacement insurance coverage in exchange for periodic blood donations — in 1954.
Blood Bank membership assured that each member gave blood on a regular schedule – alleviating the shortages that had plagued the region’s hospitals.

The results were extraordinary — the blood supply was stable for the .rst time.

In fact, its early success in recruiting members and stabilizing the blood supply inspired other regions. In Salisbury, Maryland, the Blood Bank of the Eastern Shore was formed by a group of local businessmen and Lions Club members on much the same platform in 1961, and for decades both blood banks continued to grow.

By 1990 the two blood banks were operating in such lock-step that they merged, becoming the Blood Bank of Delaware/Eastern Shore. Then, on September 1 of this year, the Blood Bank of.cially changed its name once more.

Now the Blood Bank of Delmarva, the organization that serves more than a million people in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia has a name that is more re.ective of what it does and the people it serves every day.

Today, Blood Bank of Delmarva has a membership of more than 190,000 member families and serves 18 hospitals and thirteen renal care centers (for kidney dialysis) across the Peninsula. Each member is asked to donate blood approximately every 18-24 months and, in exchange, receives blood replacement coverage for the member, spouse and dependents – just as it was conceived .ve decades ago.

This year more than 75,000 blood donations will eventually reach more than 20,000 patients across the Delmarva Peninsula – many of them auto accident and cancer patients and of all ages, sizes, colors and heritages.

One blood donation, when split into its component parts, can save up to three lives. It might just be the most powerful pint of .uid on earth.

Make time to save lives: call 888-8-BLOOD-8 or visit www.delmarvablood.org. You – and someone you may know – will be glad you did.

MAGGIE’S MEMO:
Thinking about donating blood but scared to face the needle? The whole process, from reception to the canteen takes just about an hour, and for most people, the actual donation takes less than .ve minutes.

If you are age 17 or older, weigh 110 pounds or more and are in generally good health, you can help save lives. Give once every 18-24 months, or as often as every 56 days. It can make a BIG difference to those who need the transfusion.

MAGGIE SAYS:
The new name and logo really say it all. Thanks to the caring staff at the Blood Bank of Delmarva who make sure there is blood on the shelves at every hospital on the Peninsula.