The Summer '23 Blood Connection Drive

History of The Blood Connection, Greenville, SC

In 1962 - a group of physicians, hospital, and civic leaders decided on a plan to serve the needs of patients in the community and formed The Greenville Blood Assurance Plan.

1978-1981 - The Greenville Blood Assurance Plan was officially merged into a new organization called Carolina-Georgia Blood Center.

This created a central resource for collecting and processing blood and blood products, ensuring patients' access to blood available in the region.

2000-2016 - The board of trustees adopted the mission-oriented name, The Blood Connection. The Blood Connection expands into 4 more locations throughout the Upstate of SC and into NC.

2017-Present – TBC services 10 centers in SC, 3 centers in NC and 2 centers in GA, and 50 mobile units. The Blood Connection’s mission – To provide a safe and stable blood supply for their hospital partners across the Carolinas and Georgia.

On June 20th, Hilton Displays employees participated in a Blood Connection Drive. The drive was a huge success with 43 employees signing up for the drive. Of the 43 participants, 37 were eligible to donate. From those 37 donors, 39 units were collected (some donors donated double red cells). A huge THANK YOU to each donor!

The drive would not have been the success that it was without the leadership and dedication of Jose Hernandez. He coordinated the event, promoted it within the shop and office, and rounded up all the participants for their donation time slot. Jose shared with me that his interest in being a blood donor began in high school when he was a nurse’s aide and began to organize blood drives at school. “Everyone needs blood, many people can’t donate or are too hesitant. One day, I might need blood, maybe I’ll get some of my blood back.”

Since March 2015, Hilton Displays has hosted 15 drives, collected 335 units, and saved 1,000 lives.