LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--OneLegacy, the largest organ, eye and tissue recovery organization in the nation, announced today that it has entered into a community partnership with LifeStream Blood Bank, providers of blood products and services to more than 80 Southern California hospitals in six counties. The partnership is designed to call attention to the meaningful connection between organ and blood donation.
As part of this relationship, OneLegacy will provide a three-year grant to LifeStream and will join all LifeStream events and blood drives in the Inland Empire. LifeStream has fixed-site donor centers in San Bernardino, Riverside, Ontario, Victorville, La Quinta and Murrieta and also conducts approximately 1,700 mobile blood drives annually at schools, churches, businesses, government offices, hospitals and service clubs.
“Our partnership with OneLegacy allows LifeStream to highlight the need for blood donation to support the large amount of blood used during organ transplantation,” said Rick Axelrod, M.D., LifeStream’s president and CEO. “We are excited about the opportunity to partner with OneLegacy to create new blood drives in the Southern California community and increase the number of blood donations provided to LifeStream Blood Bank to support our mission for saving lives.”
As part of its co-marketing and co-branding relationship, OneLegacy will serve as the primary partner in the LifeStream 5K Life Run/Walk in Redlands; and LifeStream will, in turn, be a sponsor at the annual OneLegacy Donate Life Run/Walk in Fullerton. And, starting Jan. 1, 2019, LifeStream will sponsor one walker at the Donate Life Rose Parade® float and choose their top blood donor to be part of the float and share the importance of blood donation.
OneLegacy’s commitment also includes establishing LifeStream blood drives with its partners/constituents.
“Central to our community-outreach and public-education commitment is engaging local communities and securing meaningful partnerships where everyone wins,” said Mone. “To fulfill patient need, LifeStream must collect 500 blood donations daily. At the same time, more than 22,000 California residents are waiting to receive lifesaving hearts, livers, lungs, kidneys and other organs; but there are simply not enough donors to meet the growing need. Now LifeStream and OneLegacy will partner together to enhance the blood donor registration process so that each time someone gives blood they also have the opportunity to register as an organ, eye and tissue donor.”
Further information regarding LifeStream, including ways to be a blood donor, may be obtained at lstream.org/aboutus/.
Nationwide, a record 34,772 organ transplants were performed in 2017, using organs from both deceased and living donors. OneLegacy saw a record number of organ donors in 2017, surpassing the previous mark set just a year earlier. Its 487 organ donors and 2,642 tissue and eye donors in 2017 resulted in 1,374 lifesaving organ transplants and up to 200,000 lives healed through tissue and cornea transplantation.
About OneLegacy
OneLegacy is a nonprofit organization dedicated to saving and healing lives through organ, eye and tissue donation in seven counties in Southern California: Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara and Kern. Serving more than 200 hospitals, 11 transplant centers and a diverse population of nearly 20 million, OneLegacy is the largest organ, eye and tissue recovery organization in the world. For more information, visit onelegacy.org, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
About LifeStream
Founded in 1951, LifeStream Blood Bank is a nonprofit, comprehensive blood bank that provides blood products and services to more than 80 Southern California hospitals in San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, Los Angeles, Imperial and San Diego counties. The organization’s mission statement is, “We help save lives by connecting donors and patients through the gift of blood.” For more information, call 800-879-4484 or visit LStream.org.
