[Kyle]

Also remember that if you have any tattoo's or piercings in the last year and last 6 months respectively that you can not donate blood. High risk for hepatitis's and other infections. I have O neg blood so they call me every 56 days to come and donate and I also donate platelets (sp?) and they make a huge difference. A great program that the American Blood bank has started, at least in this area, is if you join a program with fellow co-workers or volunteers and all donate regularly if you ever need blood at a hospital you do not have to pay for it. Blood is very very expensive if you undergo surgery or have a trauma and loose blood. this is a great program to be in, I am a part of it at my firehouse and it has already saved one fellow member $500 from his medical bills.
This is also a great thing for FIRST teams to take part in I know that MOE has started a program called 'Flow with MOE' that is a blood drive where everyone qualifies on the team to donate and what ever family and friends they can get donates. it is a fun way to get people to be interested in your team and a great thing to do for you local and even national community