Community Blood Donation
WNY’s ONLY Community Blood Bank
ConnectLife’s blood center has become an integral part of WNY’s medical community, providing the best blood products possible when area hospitals are in need. ConnectLife is able to react and quickly and efficiently provide the blood needed to save someone’s life. ConnectLife now supplies over 75% of the blood needed across WNY.
We are the sole supplier of blood products for Kaleida Health, ECMC, Eastern Niagara Health, Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center, Brooks Memorial Hospital, Bradford Regional Medical Center, Olean General Hospital and Wyoming County Community Health System. As a community blood bank, we are also responsible to answer the call for blood when other hospitals are in need, and we continue to supply Catholic Health and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center as needed.
In June of 2022, we celebrated the 15-year anniversary of the blood bank
Did you know...
Since beginning blood collections in 2007, ConnectLife has held over 8,900 blood drives, over 300,000 people have presented to donate at a blood drive, and over 543,000 blood products have been distributed to local hospitals. This means that approximately 1.6 million lives have potentially been saved across WNY through blood donation with ConnectLife.
Why Donate Blood?
There is no substitute for blood.
Without life-saving blood transfusions - about 4.5 million Americans would die each year. That makes the act of donating blood a true necessity.
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While that may be true - why do people actually walk through our doors to donate? On a national level, the number one reason donors give blood is because they “want to help others.” A lot of the feedback we get from our blood donors is that they donate blood as a simple way of giving back to the community or in memory of someone they’ve lost. Chances are, they’ll never meet or hear about the person they helped. They are true altruists.
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About 1 in every 7 people that enter a local hospital will need blood.
Since we are a community blood bank, your blood donation might very well save the life of that ONE PERSON who is part of our community and who most definitely means something to someone right here in Western New York. It’s altruism with a touch of Buffalo’s Brotherly Love.
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To show our appreciation for their generosity, we offer our donors other perks throughout the year, like t-shirts, gift cards, raffle entries, discounts and more!
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Make your next appointment to donate blood, access your profile, and more - click the button below.
Who Needs Your Blood?
The need for blood is constant. Every 2 seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood, and over 41,000 donations are required each day to meet this need. The very young, from the tiniest of preemies in a hospital’s neonatal unit, to an elderly patient suffering from a blood disorder, all benefit from blood’s life-sustaining qualities. When you donate blood, you can save up to three lives.
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Meet three WNYers whose lives were saved through blood donation.
Drake
Drake was only 12 years old when he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2017. Drake and his family spent over 120 days in the hospital for procedures, chemo treatments, and more. He required several blood and platelet transfusions during his stay at Oishei Children's Hospital and at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.
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On July 2018, Drake was admitted again for very low critical platelets. His platelet count was a 2, and he had to have 2 blood transfusions and 22 bags of platelets throughout that month. If it wasn’t for the transfusions, his family would have lost him. "Platelet donations are so critical for our little cancer patients. With all the chemo they get it drops their levels, so it is important to be able to get transfused," says Drake's mom.
Jillian
Ten years ago, Jillian was on a ventilator in a medically-induced coma. It was an experience she never imagined would happen to her.
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She was able to recover, in part, thanks to selfless ConnectLife blood donors. Jillian received numerous blood transfusions that saved her life while she was in the hospital. She is very thankful to those anonymous people that rolled up their sleeves to give the gift of life.
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"You don't think it will happen to you, until it does," says Jillian.
Rosanne & Her Sons
“The difference between life and death" is just an expression for many of us, but for Rosanne and her family it was real when her sons needed blood transfusions at birth to survive.
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Since then, all three boys are thriving and doing well. "I have three, healthy boys because of the selfless people that donated blood," says Rosanne, the mother of these three adorable boys.
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When you donate blood with ConnectLife, your donation will help save the lives of up to three Western New Yorkers like Drake and his family, Jillian and her family, and Rosanne and her family. Be a local hero. Make an appointment to donate blood today.
What happens to my blood after I donate?
As soon as your blood is collected by ConnectLife, it is on its way to save lives right here in WNY.
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Within hours of donation, your blood is taken to the ConnectLife lab in Williamsville, NY for complete testing and processing. Whole blood is processed and separated into separate component parts—red blood cells and plasma. Apheresis collections of platelets and red cells are tested and prepared for use. Your blood or platelets are typically available to local hospitals within 48 hours.
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The final step is transfusion to patients in need at one of our local hospitals. Your blood donation could be used in trauma care for people in accidents, or in surgeries and organ transplants. It might be needed by people receiving treatment for cancer, bleeding disorders, blood diseases or immune system conditions. Your donation can save lives right in our community. Every drop stays local. Every drop stays in Western New York.
Make your next appointment to donate blood, access your profile, and see your donation history below.