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Hoxworth Sees 14 Percent Increase in Minority Donors

(June 14, 2006) — More minorities are rolling up their sleeves to donate blood in Cincinnati and give the ‘gift of life.’

4,048 minority donors came to a Hoxworth blood center or community blood drive between April 2005 and March 2006, a 14 percent increase over the same time period in 2004-05.

This increase was reported as the result of a Minority Donor Recruitment Campaign that Hoxworth launched in April 2005.
 
Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis laughs with Hoxworth team leader Gene Boyd at the 2005 Bengals Blood Drive, a feature event of Hoxworth's Minority Donor Recruitment Campaign.
 
Hoxworth saw the biggest jump in minority donors from high school students. 1,086 minority donors gave at high school blood drives between April 2005 and March 2006, a 35 percent increase over the same time period in 2004-05. Annually, over 100 high schools in 17 area counties host blood drives at their schools, combining for over 10,000 individual donations.

Hoxworth attributes the increased donations to many factors, including:
  • A unified public relations and marketing campaign targeting minority donors
  • Continuing partnerships with radio and television stations to promote blood drives
  • Collaborating with Cincinnati Children's Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center for educational and outreach events
  • Ongoing partnerships with the Cincinnati Bengals and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center to host blood drives
  • Increased opportunities for high school and college students to donate year round.
Hoxworth asks donors indicate their ethnicity during the registration process from the following options: African American, Asian, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian/Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and Caucasian.

“In order to attract minority blood donors, more opportunities must be created to make donating easier,” said Michael Anderson, Hoxworth’s director of public relations. “We cannot expect the donors to come to us. We need to be where they live, work, shop and play. We need people to understand the significance that blood donors play in the healthcare of our community.”

More minority blood donors are needed because there are patients in our local hospitals that need their help. For example, blood transfusions for patients with sickle cell disease at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital are most effective if the transfused blood is from a donor with the same racial or ethnic background. Since 98% of sickle cell patients are of African or Caribbean descent, blood from African Americans or Latinos are the best matches.
 
Cincinnati Children's Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center
 

The campaign was financially assisted by the following foundations:
 - The H.B., E.W. & FR Luther Charitable Foundation, Fifth Third Bank and Narley L. Haley, Co-Trustees
- The H.G., H.F. & L.T. Dornette Foundation, Fifth Third Bank and Stan Koller, Co-Trustees
 
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Copyright © 2006 Hoxworth Blood Center | Member: America's Blood Centers