14th Annual Parrot Head Drive

Lei Back and Enjoy Saving a Life! 14th Annual Parrot Head Drive Begins Thursday May 18, 2018 – It’s 5 o’clock somewhere, and on Thursday, May 24th that somewhere is MEDIC Regional Blood Center’s Downtown Donor Center. The 14th Annual Parrot Head Party is once again bringing in hundreds of donors to help prepare for the Memorial Day weekend. During national holidays the number of people who are able to donate blood declines. The Parrot Head event helps ensure the 28 East Tennessee area hospitals MEDIC serves will have the blood they need to help patients. The Parrot Head Party includes decorations, games, live music, and free food. Volunteers from the East Tennessee Parrot Head Club will be grilling burgers, WNOX’s Frank Murphy will be broadcasting live and Blue Bell will be handing out free pints of ice cream to donors. Donors can come as early as 8am. The food and entertainment begins at 10:30am and continues throughout the afternoon. The event will go on as planned rain or shine. As a thank you for their lifesaving gift, all donors will receive a limited edition Parrot Head t-shirt, a coupon for a free Chick-fil-A Sandwich, and a coupon for a free Texas Roadhouse appetizer. In addition, all donors will also be entered to win gift certificates for food and a one night stay at Margaritaville in Pigeon Forge. The best way to enjoy Parrot Head Day is with friends and fa

MEDIC Regional Blood Center is gathering new information from each of its donors in order to best match the right donor to the right recipient. Beginning in February, all donors will be asked to voluntarily provide information about their ethnicity. This information is critically important to help MEDIC better manage its blood supply and get the right type of blood to the right hospital. Most donors know their basic blood type (e.g. O+, B+, A-), but most people don’t know about the hundreds of other proteins that can be found on their blood cells. For most people, these proteins don’t mean anything. There are many blood recipients in East Tennessee who receive blood regularly for blood diseases like sickle cell anemia. For these patients, these proteins matter. When they are exposed to one of the proteins that their body doesn’t recognize, they produce an antibody. This antibody sits quietly until that person receives another transfusion. If they receive blood with the same protein, their body — equipped with the new antibody — may attack the blood causing a transfusion reaction. For these patients, MEDIC has a special group of scientists who specially test blood going to someone who has received multiple transfusions. The best blood for these patients is blood that is as identical to theirs as possible. Sometimes these scientists have to test dozens of units of blood to find

MEDIC Regional Blood Center is excited to be partnering with the newly opened Anakeesta Theme Park in Gatlinburg! All MEDIC blood donors on February 12th and 13th will receive a Free Admission ticket to the park as well as a Free Texas Roadhouse Appetizer and T-Shirt. Included in the free admission is Anakeesta’s Chondola ride, elevated 16-bridge Tree Canopy Walk, Children’s Treehouse Village Playground, Memorial Forest Walk with interpretive signs, shopping and dining opportunities at Firefly Village and the most gorgeous scenic views in all of Gatlinburg. For more information on Anakeesta Theme Park visit: https://www.anakeesta.com/ Donate blood at any of the locations listed below to participate: Monday, February 12th Big Lots Rockwood 11am – 6pm Morning Pointe of Athens 12pm – 6pm Kroger Marketplace of Oak Ridge 12pm – 7pm First TN Bank Call Center South Knoxville 11am – 5pm Tractor Supply Greeneville 12pm – 7pm New Providence Presbyterian Church Maryville 11am – 6pm Jefferson Memorial Hospital 10am – 5:30pm MEDIC Knoxville 8am – 6:30pm MEDIC Farragut 7:30am – 7pm MEDIC Crossville 12pm – 6pm Tuesday, February 13th Moe’s Southwest Grill Morristown 2:30pm – 6pm Walgreens Alcoa 7am – 11am Sevier Co Utility District 9am – 2pm Dollar General Seymour 3:30pm – 6:30pm Bradley’s Pit BBQ & Grill Sweetwater 12pm – 7pm UT Medical Center 10am –

MEDIC Regional Blood Center is once again teaming up with Alumni Hall in an effort to help The Pat Summitt Foundation. In 2017, the three organizations launched a historic partnership to honor former Lady Vols Head Basketball Coach Pat Summitt while also helping the foundation which bears her name. During “Give for Pat Week”, $10 will be donated to The Pat Summitt Foundation for every person who donates lifesaving blood. The money will go directly to help fund patient care, caregiver support, and Alzheimer’s disease clinical research. Last year the effort resulted in the collection of 1,440 pints of blood and raised $14,440. During her coaching career, Summitt was a MEDIC blood donor and often promoted the importance of donating blood. “Pat Summitt did so much for the community including MEDIC,” says MEDIC CEO Jim Decker. “Whenever we needed help, she was there. This event is so special because now our blood donors are able to do something for her and her legacy.” This year’s event runs from Monday, February 5th to Friday, February 9th. Donors can give at any of the following locations: Monday, February 5th MEDIC Knoxville, 1601 Ailor Avenue, 8am-6:30pm MEDIC Farragut, 11000 Kingston Pike, 7:30am-7pm MEDIC Crossville, 79 S. Main Street, 12pm-6pm (CST) Laughlin Memorial Hospital 10am – 6pm Food City Asheville Hwy 10am – 6pm Walmart Clinton 11am – 6pm Nation

MEDIC Regional Blood Center is teaming up with WATE 6 On Your Side , Star 102.1, Food City, and Airport Honda to encourage those in East Tennessee to roll up their sleeves and give lifesaving blood. The annual Roll Up Your Sleeve blood drive is January 15^th-19^th. The event comes as MEDIC struggles to meet the needs of local hospital. Recently, MEDIC has been unable to meet the increasing demand of units of O negative blood from area hospitals. MEDIC will be holding blood drives at 30 different Food City stores in 16 counties. To help encourage people to donate blood, one person at each Food City hosted blood drive will win a $50 Food City gift card. At the end of the week, every blood donor will be entered into another drawing for a $500 Food City gift card. Additionally, each person who donates blood will receive a MEDIC Roll Up Your Sleeve t-shirt and a coupon for a free appetizer from Texas Roadhouse. In addition to the locations at Food City stores, WATE 6 On Your Side is also hosting a MEDIC blood drive on Thursday, January 18^th from 11:30am-6:30pm. One donor who gives blood there will also win a $50 Food City gift card. Below is a list of all of the Roll Up Your Sleeve blood drive locations: Monday, January 15^th Food City Blaine (180 Rutledge Pike) 5:30am-1pm Food City Dandridge (123 West Highway 25/70) 11am – 6pm Food

On Thursday, January 4th, MEDIC Regional Blood Center and Niswonger Performing Arts Center will be partnering to give away special tickets to blood donors for National Blood Donor Month. All donors who give blood at Niswonger on Thursday will receive a free ticket to the Country Cool Comedy Tour, which takes place on Saturday, January 6th at 7:30pm at Niswonger. The show features three women with southern roots, who have been friends for over a decade; Leanne Morgan, Trish Suhr, and Karen Mills. All three comedians are strong supporters of MEDIC and its’ mission to provide a safe, adequate and economical supply of blood products to the 29 area hospitals it serves. Morgan, who currently resides in nearby Knoxville, urged donors to step up and donate blood for the community. “I donate blood, my husband donates… I was encouraged to donate blood by my parents. Just give me some peanut butter crackers and a diet coke and I’ll be there,” stated Morgan. Karen Mills also has a personal connection with blood donation, having received platelet transfusions during her cancer treatment several years ago. She has been a cancer survivor for four years and hopes that the community comes out to donate blood for other blood recipients. “I don’t think people realize how important it is to donate blood,” said Trish Suhr. Suhr began don

MEDIC Regional Blood Center is excited to host ‘Twas the The Pint Before Christmas’ along with Ober Gatlinburg and HOT 104.5 to provide a special treat to blood donors who roll up their sleeves on December 22nd! The holiday season is historically a difficult time for MEDIC, as blood donors are typically on vacation and extra busy with Holiday preparations. This partnership will hopefully bring in extra donors to help supply life-saving blood to the 28 area hospitals that MEDIC serves in East Tennessee. On December 22nd, each blood donor will receive a free ticket to Ober Gatlinburg for an evening of skiing or snowboarding, along with a free t-shirt or pair of blood donor socks and a free Texas Roadhouse Appetizer coupon. Donors who would like to participate, can donate at any of the locations listed below. Friday, December 22nd: Blount Memorial Hospital 12pm – 7pm Family Dollar Seymour 12pm – 7pm Walmart Alcoa 12pm – 7pm Hammer’s Halls 12pm – 7pm Dollar Tree Oak Ridge 12pm – 7pm Books-A-Million Sevierville 12pm – 7pm Khol’s 220 Morrell Rd 12pm – 7pm MEDIC Knoxville 8am – 6:30pm MEDIC Farragut 6:30am – 6pm For questions please call: 865.524-3074 or 865.521.2658

Throughout the month of December, MEDIC Regional Blood Center and Papa Murphy’s Pizza are partnering to provide free pizza to donors at several Papa Murphy’s locations in East Tennessee. Each donor will receive a Free Large One-Topping pizza coupon, a Free Texas Roadhouse Appetizer coupon, and a Free T-Shirt or pair of blood donor socks at all of the locations listed below: Monday, December 11th: Papa Murphy’s Cedar Bluff (9205 Middlebrook Pike) 12pm – 6pm Wednesday, December 13th: Papa Murphy’s South Knoxville (4409 Chapman Highway) 12pm – 7pm Tuesday, December 26th: Papa Murphy’s Oak Ridge (1133 Oak Ridge Turnpike) 12pm – 7pm Papa Murphy’s Maryville (2602 US Hwy 411 South /129 Suite 100) 12pm – 7pm Papa Murphy’s Jefferson City (644 East Broadway Blvd) 12pm – 7pm Papa Murphy’s Seymour (11516 Chapman Highway) 12pm – 7pm Papa Murphy’s Morristown (2222 West Andrew Johnson Highway) 12pm – 7pm Papa Murphy’s Lenoir City (835 US 321 #2) 12pm – 7pm

MEDIC Regional Blood Center is excited to once again partner with East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. For the entire month of November, blood donors are invited to skip the free t-shirt that they are normally given after donating life-saving blood and in-turn, MEDIC will donate the cost of the shirt to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. ETCH is a 152-bed hospital that provides high quality pediatric care in East Tennessee, and has been a part of the community for over 75 years.

30^th Battle of the Orange and Blue Kicks Off Monday

Although competition has evolved through the years, its importance has not

  Thirty years ago, gas was selling for $.91, Butch Jones was a junior in college, and football fans in Kentucky and Tennessee were being asked to donate blood to help their respective communities in a first of its kind competition. A lot has changed since 1988, but one thing that hasn’t changed is the Battle of the Orange and Blue which enters its third decade of saving lives. This year’s event is from Monday, November 13^th to Friday, November 17^th. Fans of the Tennessee Volunteers and the Kentucky Wildcats compete all week to see who can donate the most lifesaving blood. The event was started by MEDIC Regional Blood Center and the Kentucky Blood Center to help increase blood donations at a critical time. The competition has always been during the week before Thanksgiving. For most of the competition’s history, this meant the blood drive was held the week of  or the week before the Tennessee and Kentucky squared off. The winner of the annual competition was announced during an on-the-field trophy presentation at the game.Scheduling changes now mean the Kentucky game is several weeks before the competition. In recent years, this ha