To coincide with the release of the long-awaited Top Gun sequel, “Top Gun: Maverick,” Kentucky Blood Center will be offering a special “Top Donor” T-shirt for in-center donors May 26-28 (while supplies last).
Donors who give blood Thursday through Saturday at Lexington’s Andover or Beaumont locations or at the Somerset Donor Center will receive the Top Donor T-shirt in addition to KBC’s monthly thank you item, a navy-blue trucker hat. Donors at Louisville’s Middletown and Hillview locations and the Pikeville Donor Center will have the option of a Kings Island ticket or the Top Donor shirt coupled with the trucker hat.
The Top Donor shirt – a short-sleeved gray shirt that alludes to the memorable line by Tom Cruise’s character in the original Top Gun movie, “I feel the need—the need for speed!” – is only available at KBC’s six donor centers in Lexington, Louisville, Somerset and Pikeville.
When donors save lives with KBC this summer, they will walk away with fun thank you items like the Top Donor shirt and be entered for exciting opportunities. As a part of the Summer Getaway Giveaway, all donors 18 and older who register now through Sept. 10 will have the chance to win a 2022 Toyota RAV4. Donors who get out early this summer and register now through July 4 at a KBC mobile blood drive or donor center will also be entered to win a five-night, six-day vacation package for two to the Excellence Oyster Bay in Montego Bay, Jamaica. The winner of the vacation package will be announced after July 4.
Each donation for the Summer Getaway Giveaway counts as an entry, meaning donors will have a higher chance to win one of the two summer prize packages the more they donate. Donors can give whole blood once every 56 days and platelets once every 14 days.
Appointments are preferred and walk-ins are welcome. To schedule a donation, visit kybloodcenter.org or call 800.775.2522.
KBC is encouraging all Kentuckians to prioritize giving blood this summer. Battling a persistent low blood supply that has plagued blood centers across the nation for the last two years, blood centers are now entering a historically slow time of the year for donations. Summer traditionally leads to a drop in donations since schools aren’t in session and many families are traveling.
KBC, the largest independent, full-service, nonprofit blood center in Kentucky, services more than 90 Kentucky counties from Pikeville to Paducah. Blood donations help KBC supply blood for cancer treatments, premature births, car accidents, diseases, surgeries and more. One donation can save up to three lives, and one in four people will need a transfusion at some point in their life.
Blood donors must be at least 17 years old (16 with parental consent), weigh at least 110 pounds, be in general good health, show a photo I.D. and meet additional requirements. Sixteen-year-old donors must have a signed parental permission slip, which can be found at kybloodcenter.org.