Annual Appeal

Strong Communities Are Built On Safe Blood.  Miller-Keystone Blood Center is privileged to have volunteer blood donors who roll up their sleeves to provide the community with the gift of life, and we remain grateful to all the volunteers who donate their time or talent to ensure a safe and productive blood center. However, Miller-Keystone needs financial support to achieve our goals as well.

The Blood Center has designated the funds from

our 2009-2010 Annual Appeal toward the purchase

of several critically needed items that support

our mission. From donor screening, to collection,

to laboratory testing, and finally storage and distribution,

these items fulfill our basic operational needs.

Slated for purchase this year are:

Mobile Drive Packs. To continually meet the increasing need for blood products, MKBC must replace outdated and worn out mobile blood drive equipment, most notably donor beds, storage cabinets, and privacy screens. Since these items are used the most, they must be replaced most often. Equipment is constantly being replaced on a rolling basis as pieces are deemed defunct. Replacement trends indicate that it is most efficient for MKBC to purchase mobile drive equipment in packages that can be distributed evenly to our various transport vehicles. By bundling the equipment, we are also better able to track equipment age and deterioration rates.

Sebra Scales. MKBC anticipates purchasing several additional Sebra Digital Blood Shaker/Flow™ and Weight Monitors this year. These scales provide highly accurate blood collections by notifying staff when blood is flowing smoothly or when there may be a problem, helping to maximize successful donations. The scales also beep when a blood bag has reached capacity, and they have an internal clamp to stop blood flow, preventing overdraws. Additionally, these scales also provide continuous movement during the donation process, mixing blood with anticoagulant, to prevent clotting.

Abbott PRISM® Blood Screening System. To ensure the quality of blood products provided to our constituent hospitals, MKBC administers an extensive panel of disease screenings to every unit of blood that we collect. New testing regulations are continually set forth to screen blood donors for contemporary blood-borne pathogens. In order to maintain the safest possible community blood supply, MKBC must always keep up-to-date with current and future testing regulations, in-house at our laboratory facility. The acquisition of a second PRISM® system will expand our capacity to screen donations for various blood-borne diseases, both currently and in the future. Our current PRISM® tests for Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and Human T-Lymphotropic Virus (Types I and II). In the foreseeable future, MKBC plans to move HIV testing from another instrument to the PRISM® system, and also begin testing for newly mandated diseases in-house. With the addition of a second PRISM®, we will be able to carry out about 200,000 total tests per year.

Refrigerator/Freezer. Last year, MKBC scheduled more than 120,000 donors, collecting nearly 101,000 units of blood, which were processed into over 175,000 life-saving blood products. Refrigerators and freezers allow MKBC to properly store our blood products, guaranteeing their viability for patient use. The purchase of additional refrigerators and freezers will not only replace aging equipment, but will also provide increased capacity for the storage and distribution of life-saving blood products throughout our region.

It is imperative that MKBC purchases these items to ensure the quality of the blood products that we so proudly provide our region's 18 hospitals.Our goal is to raise $50,000 over the next year to underwrite these purchases, and this type of support is a 100% tax-deductible gift or pledge.  Since our role is so critical to community well-being, your contribution not only shows your support of our region's only blood provider, but also directly assists us in saving lives... one pint at a time.

2009-10 Annual Appeal

Click here to donate with your credit card.

For more information, contact Sandra D. Thomas, Director of Development, at 800-223-6667, ext. 1292, or sthomas@hcsc.org.

Miller-Keystone Blood Center Sole Supplier of Blood to Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Chester, Lehigh, Luzerne, Montgomery, Northampton and Schuylkill (PA) and Warren (NJ) counties.

An Independent, Not-For-Profit 501(c)3 community organization, Miller-Keystone Blood Center is an affiliate of Hospital Central Services, Inc.