OKC Thunder basketball team partners with Our Blood Institute

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - Our Blood Institute teamed up with the OKC Thunder basketball team for their annual holiday blood drive called “Thunder Up.” This special event has been going on for 15 years now to help with the minimal amount of donations they see during this time of year. To encourage more people to donate, they gave away a free thunder t-shirt a voucher for a ticket to an upcoming game and some other fun prizes.

Our Blood Insititute recruitment manager, Jennifer Risinger, said the best thing people walk away with after donating is saving 3 people’s lives. That’s because one pint of blood is separated out into red blood cells, platelets and plasma and given to 3 separate patients.

“When you come in we just ask everybody to bring a photo ID with them. They’re going to go through a screening process to see if they’re okay to donate. That includes a wellness check we’ll check your blood pressure, your temperature, your pulse and then prick your finger to check your hemoglobin levels,” Risinger said.

Risinger said the FDA has loosened some of the guidelines in the last year so she encourages people to try to donate again if they have been turned away in the past. If you missed this year’s “Thunder Up” blood drive but still want to donate you can visit your local blood institute. The process will take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour.