TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – Travis Air Force Base, California, hosted a community blood drive April 27 at the Travis Fitness Center in support of Blood Centers of the Pacific.
BCP, a nonprofit, community-based organization, provides blood and blood components to hospitals, physicians and patients throughout Northern California.
In total, Team Travis contributed 134 units of blood during the six-hour event.
“We made a huge improvement from last year’s lab week in which (Team Travis) gave 103 units of blood,” said Steven Pignataro, BCP donor recruitment representative.
Pignataro said that since BCP’s partnership with Travis began in 2012, the base has donated more than 1,700 units of blood to the organization.
“Without life-saving blood transfusions, approximately 4.5 million people would die in the United States each year,” he said. “Just one unit of blood can save as many as three people’s lives. So doing the math, Team Travis has helped in saving more than 5,000 lives, which is something Team Travis donors should be very proud of.”
For Capt. Aisha Lockett, 60th Air Mobility Wing executive officer, pride in her team is never in short supply. As Travis’ liaison to BCP, she oversaw the event and encouraged 100 donors to show up and donate blood.
“This is just another way that Team Travis and our Big ‘A’ Airmen continue to execute the wing’s vision of serving locally and engaging globally,” said Lockett. “The Base Blood Program is a very important partnership that Travis AFB has had with the Blood Centers of the Pacific for six years, and that importance is underscored when members of the base turn out in droves like they did for this blood drive.”
In addition to providing units of blood to those in need in Northern California, the blood donated by Travis AFB has also found its way to Las Vegas in support of the victims of 2017’s mass shooting, said Lockett.
Encouraged by the success of this most recent blood drive, the Base Blood Program has scheduled seven more blood drives in 2018. The dates for them are as follows:
The blood drive’s success also encouraged Pignataro, who expressed his appreciation for everyone who participated in it.
“Thank you for being our champion and helping us to serve the needs of patients in our wonderful community,” he said. “Along with supporting the patients, countless friends and family of those in need have been forever changed because of your donations.”