The Donation

San Bernardino’s very own local blood bank LifeStream regularly hosts blood drives where people can donate a pint of blood as often as every 2 months, or every 2 weeks for blood platelets. Unlike national organizations like the Red Cross, LifeStream is strictly local, helping supply the immediate needs of the San Bernardino community. Don Escalante, LifeStream’s Public Relations Specialist, reminds us that donating with LifeStream helps our local community specifically. “If anyone you know in your community needs blood, LifeStream will most likely be the non-profit organization that will help supply it to the local hospitals,” he says. Blood donations greatly help recipients such as children with cancer or accident victims. LifeStream consists of four centers where donors can donate, located in San Bernardino, Riverside, Ontario, and High Desert. In addition, LifeStream sends out mobile units, which are buses that travel to other locations and carry all equipment necessary to receive blood donations. Due to strict FDA regulations, there is only a small pool of the population that can donate blood; therefore a good supply of blood donations is always helpful. A person with the blood type O− is especially in demand, as it is the only blood type that everyone can accept. Donating blood is a fairly simple 5-step process that includes registration, screening, a mini-physical, the blood collection, and resting in the canteen with complimentary beverages and snacks. From start to finish, the whole process takes about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Blood donor Khanh Truong of Moreno Valley, who has been donating every 2 months for about a year, explains that the benefits of donating blood are twofold: it is a way to help other people, as well as a way to help yourself by renewing your own body. Although he has never personally needed blood, Truong began donating when the child of his mother’s employer, who is afflicted with leukemia, inspired him to begin his continuous lifesaving effort of giving. “When you step out to help people, you build the mentality and the good habit to continue helping people in all other aspects of life,” Truong says. He explains that donating blood has also personally helped him become more health conscious, as he has learned more about his body and blood type. It pushes him to keep his body healthy in anticipation of his next donation. Overall, he simply feels really good when he donates, knowing it is a great thing to do and a way to help others. Another blood donor, Justin Ostroza of Loma Linda, is a college student who wanted to help his community, but didn’t have a lot of money to give to charities. Donating blood to LifeStream is his own way to give back. “Not many people have the opportunity to give blood, so if you can give, just go out and do it,” he says. “You never know who you can save and you never know who will need blood at a critical moment. If I was ever in the situation where I needed blood, I would be very thankful for the people who give.” Ostroza found out about LifeStream when a mobile unit served at his college in 2011. He found out that one of LifeStream’s four locations is near his home, and since then, he has been donating every chance he gets. In addition to the rewarding personal satisfaction donors get in helping people, LifeStream generously gives incentives to donate blood in the form of points that can be accumulated and traded in for items like gift cards. Visit www.LSTREAM.org for more information on LifeStream donor centers and hours, or call 1-800-TRY-GIVING (1-800-879-4484).