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Blood Donors Get Bucks For Their Pints

News Channel 8 photo by INDIRA LEVINE

Promising people gallons for their pints, Florida Blood Services boosted its blood supply over the weekend by offering $10 gas cards to anyone donating blood.

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By VALERIE KALFRIN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 5, 2008

TAMPA - Promising people gallons for their pints, Florida Blood Services boosted its blood supply over the weekend by offering $10 gas cards to anyone donating blood.

"We are doing really well," agency spokeswoman Tirzah Ben-Avraham said. From July 1 though this afternoon, the agency had collected 3,451 pints of blood, many from donors who don't contribute regularly, she said.

The promotion lasts through Sunday. Addresses for 13 donation centers and bloodmobiles available throughout the Bay area can be found on the agency's Web site, www.fbsblood.org.

"It's a nice plus," donor Mike Eastburn said of the gas card today.

Eastburn, a truck driver, said he donates whole blood every eight weeks because it makes him feel good to do something for others.

Receiving something in return, he said, "was a pleasant surprise."

Florida Blood Services supplies blood to 37 hospitals in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Polk, Pasco and Manatee counties and requires more than 750 donations daily to meet medical needs, Ben-Avraham said.

As of today, the agency's supplies of B-negative and AB-negative blood were considered "critical," meaning there is less than a two-day supply, she said.

Anyone donating whole blood and platelets will receive the gas card, a coupon for a free slice of pie and coffee at a Village Inn restaurant, a wellness checkup and a chance to win a three-day, two-night getaway to the Tradewinds Island Beach Resort in St. Pete Beach.

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