KC Reporter

Sporting Kansas City and the Community Blood Center will host a blood drive on July 2nd at Children’s Mercy Park. The event is scheduled from 12-6 p.m. inside the Budweiser Brew House, located at the intersection of Village West Parkway and France Family Drive in Kansas City, KS.

Appointments for donating can be made online or by calling 1-877-468-6844. While appointments are encouraged, walk-ins will be accepted if capacity allows.

This collaboration between Sporting Kansas City and the Community Blood Center has been ongoing since 1998. The current drive comes during an emergency call for donors as blood supplies in Kansas City have reached critically low levels.

Summer often sees a decline in donations due to vacations, despite being termed "trauma season" because of increased accidents and emergencies. Chelsey Smith, Director of Public Relations at Community Blood Center, stated: “We’re calling on all eligible blood donors, especially type O-negative and platelet donors, to show up for their neighbors this summer by making an appointment to donate blood as we enter trauma season.”

The local blood supply is down to a critical 1-2-day level compared to the ideal 7-10-day inventory needed for hospitals. Type O-negative and O-positive donors are particularly needed due to their importance in trauma cases and routine medical care.

Donors can give blood every 56 days and platelets twice per month. Recent changes by the Food and Drug Administration have lifted some eligibility restrictions related to individuals who lived in Europe during certain periods. Current guidelines can be found at savealifenow.org or by calling 1-800-688-0900.

Community Blood Center was founded in 1958 and serves over 70 hospitals across Kansas and Missouri with more than 150,000 lifesaving products annually. It is part of NYBCe which operates across multiple states delivering millions of blood products each year.