Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center Dedicates New Bloodmobile
(August 26, 2008)

Davenport, Iowa – The Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center (MVRBC) introduced its new bloodmobile to the community today, dedicating the new mobile unit “to the volunteer blood donor and the spirit of generosity that saves and improves lives in our community.” The custom-built bus was dedicated in a ceremony held at MVRBC’s Davenport headquarters this morning, but was actually used on its first blood drive yesterday in Cedar Rapids.

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Built with the comfort and safety of blood donors in mind, the bloodmobile features three private screening rooms, five donor beds with attached TV / DVD players, climate control systems and a post-donation canteen area. The bright blue bus will travel more than 20,000 miles a year to at least 200 mobile blood drives, with collections projected to exceed 4,000 units a year.

“This is no ordinary bus,” said MVRBC CEO David Green in today’s dedication ceremony. “It is a community resource that allows blood donors to take part in the extraordinary process of saving lives by giving blood.”

Blood Center officials noted the generosity of local businesses, foundations and individual contributors for their support of MVRBC’s “Hop on the Bus” campaign, which has raised nearly $150,000 to help offset the bloodmobile’s $250,000 purchase price. Joe Slavens, an MVRBC board member who served as the task force’s chairperson, said the Blood Center’s fund raising efforts received a tremendous response.

“The level of support we received for this campaign shows people understand not only the importance of blood donation, but also the significance of taking the Blood Center to the communities it serves,” said Slavens.

Lead donors to the “Hop on the Bus” campaign include the Scott County Regional Authority ($30,000), the John Deere Foundation ($25,000), Alcoa Foundation ($15,000), the employees of Quad City Bank & Trust ($7,500) and Nestlé Purina PetCare ($5,000). A total of 133 businesses, foundations and individual donors contributed a total of $147,486.000 to the campaign.

The bloodmobile will be used on mobile blood drives held at locations where the sponsoring organization does not have appropriate space to hold a blood drive within its own facilities, allowing MVRBC to bring a fully functioning donor center directly to the host location.

“A bloodmobile expands our reach and gives us the opportunity to work with a wider range of organizations that would like to host blood drives,” said Green. “The bloodmobile will visit nearly every community in our region and meet generous volunteer blood donors each time it goes out,” he added.

The 40-foot Blue Bird bus is powered by a 200-horsepower Cummins diesel engine and includes a generator to provide electricity for blood donation equipment, climate control systems, interior lights and the TV / DVD players located at each donor bed. Attached is an 18-foot awning under which donors can relax before and after donation. The bloodmobile was built by L & S Custom Coaches of Hudson, Florida, a company that specializes in customizing buses for blood centers, law enforcement and commercial use.

Established in 1974 to serve hospitals in Scott County, Iowa and Rock Island County, Illinois, MVRBC now provides blood products and services to 53 hospitals in 45 counties of Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Wisconsin. In 2007, MVRBC provided more than 250,000 blood products for use within its service territory and beyond. The new bloodmobile is the fifth in MVRBC’s history and will replace a smaller, RV-style mobile unit purchased in 2001.

For information on scheduling a mobile blood drive, please contact Amanda Hess, Director of Donor Resources, at (800) 747-5401 / ahess@mvrbc.com or visit www.bloodcenter.org.