The Jets, Giants and MetLife Stadium are partnering with the New York Blood Center to host a blood drive on Thursday, August 20th. The drive will take place in the Toyota Club at MetLife Stadium from 9:30am to 3:30pm. New York Blood Center hopes to collect nearly 200 units of blood from participating donors, enough to treat 600 patients in need.
Before COVID-19, mobile blood drives hosted by schools, organizations, and businesses made up around 75% of the region's incoming blood supply, but all drives had to be cancelled for several months. New York Blood Center began hosting a limited number of drives again this summer, however they are far from the number of drives per month needed to support area hospitals.
"The summer months are always difficult with families going on vacation and school being closed – this summer has been no exception, especially with COVID-19 keeping people inside and social distancing limiting the number of blood drives," said Andrea Cefarelli, Senior Executive Director Recruitment and Marketing. "We are so grateful to the New York Jets, New York Giants, and MetLife Stadium for hosting another blood drive this year. Their support and the support of our donors is crucial to keeping the blood supply stable at this difficult time."
Donating blood is safe and it only takes one hour. We are taking extra precautions to help prevent the person-to-person spread of COVID-19. As always, people are not eligible to donate if they're experiencing a cold, sore throat, respiratory infection or flu-like symptoms. Additional information on donor eligibility and COVID-19 precautions is available here.
The drive will take place from 9:30am to 3:30pm on Thursday, August 20th at MetLife Stadium (One MetLife Stadium Drive), East Rutherford, NJ. Donors should park in Lot F or G and enter at the MetLife Gate. The blood drive will be held in the Toyota Club. Appointments are preferred and walk-ins only available if spacing permits. To schedule an appointmentcall 1-800-933-2566 or sign up here.
