As the national blood shortage rages on, Starlight and several neighboring Swope Park organizations are stepping in to help. The local blood supply has not been stable since March, when the COVID-19 pandemic became widespread in the United States. In response, Swope Park organizations are once again partnering with Community Blood Center (CBC) for another life-saving blood drive to be held in the Applause Club at Starlight Theatre.
“We had such a positive response to July’s blood drive that we’ve doubled our donation goal for September’s event,” Barb Schulte, Starlight’s Vice President of Community Engagement, said. “We invite Kansas Citians from throughout the metro to visit Starlight and do their part to contribute to this urgent need.”
CBC is the primary supplier of blood and blood products in the Greater Kansas City area and requires nearly 600 donations each day to meet hospital need. In order to maintain a safe blood supply, a seven-day inventory of all blood types must be continually replenished. However, the local blood supply has not exceeded a four-day supply since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The blood supply is and always will be vital to our healthcare system,” said Kim Peck, Senior Executive Director of Community Blood Center. “At this unprecedented time, donating blood is one thing you can do to help someone who desperately needs it.”
Several Swope Park and surrounding are organizations plan to participate in the blood drive, including Kansas City Parks and Recreation, KC Community Gardens, Go Ape, the Southtown Council and the KC Zoo. The two-day drive will be held in Starlight’s Applause Club on Wednesday, September 23 and Thursday, September 24 from 10 a.m – 4 p.m. Appointments are strongly encouraged and can be made online at savealifenow.org/group, enter group code: EG9Z. The Applause Club is located on the east side of Starlight and can be accessed via Gate 8. Parking is available curbside and in the Zoo’s Zebra and Cheetah parking lots.
In order to protect CBC staff, healthy blood donors and our community blood supply, individuals are required to wear a face mask to their donation. Donors are instructed not to attend the blood drive if they are experiencing a fever or other symptoms of COVID-19 (chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing) or have been diagnosed with or suspected of having COVID-19 until 14 days after their illness has resolved. Please note: CBC does NOT test for COVID-19. Additional information is available at savealifenow.org/coronavirus.
Follow Starlight on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @kcstarlight.
About Starlight
Opened as a theatre in 1950 and a nonprofit organization in 1951, Starlight is the largest and oldest performing arts institution in Kansas City and provides inspiring, one-of-a-kind experiences to its patrons. Starlight presents and produces Broadway musicals, concerts and Indoors shows in addition to offering extensive community engagement programming, including classes, scholarships and Starlight’s Blue Star Awards, one of the largest high school musical theatre award programs in the nation.
Located on 16 acres in Swope Park, Starlight’s historic, city-owned venue is the second-largest outdoor producing theatre in the country and includes rehearsal halls, a museum, club area for dining, concessions, gardens, fountains and a 10-story, climate-controlled stage. For more information, visit kcstarlight.com.
About Community Blood Center of Greater Kansas City (CBC)
Community Blood Center, now part of the NYBC family, serves hospitals in the Kansas City metropolitan area, as well as eastern Kansas and western Missouri. CBC provides nearly 200,000 blood products per year to approximately 65 area hospitals – and calls upon about 580 donors each day to meet the need for a life-saving gift of blood. The blood center makes timely deliveries of safe, high-quality products to meet transfusion needs, for routine care and emergencies. For more information, visit http://www.savealifenow.org/.
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