It’s not every day that someone wins $10K, but for two blood donors that day recently became a reality. Out of the thousands of donors who gave blood in April, one California donor and one Colorado donor received the incredible news that they had won.
The promotion, which ran from April 1-30, awarded each randomly selected winner a $10K gift card — enough to purchase groceries, or other needed supplies, for at least a year. Per each donor’s preference, one winner was mailed an American Express gift card, and the other could choose from a variety of electronic gift cards to use online.
Lauren C. of California is our first winner. With three lifetime donations at Vitalant, she donated whole blood in 2000, then came back to donate in April — 25 years later! Her first attempt to donate in April was unsuccessful, but she returned later in the month to try again with a combination platelet and plasma donation. Best decision ever! It turned out to be a winning combination for Lauren — and for patients in need.
Our second winner, Taj Y., hails from Colorado. Taj’s qualifying whole blood donation took place on April 25 — what a lucky day!
Taj started donating blood in 2002, and he has 14 lifetime donations with Vitalant. It had been a few years since Taj’s last donation in December 2023. His decision to return and give blood in April ended up being life-changing, both for himself and for patients.
When he found out he had won, Taj was shocked. “It was the last thing on my mind when I signed up to give blood, to be honest, but what an unexpected gift!”
Taj says his motivation to give blood dates to 1991 when his father passed away from hemochromatosis at age 42.
“At the time, the blood condition was not well known and was only discovered during his autopsy. Naturally, I was tested and learned that I carry only one of the genes,” he shares. “Still, I was advised to play it safe and donate blood a few times a year. One way to prevent hemochromatosis from becoming life-threatening is regular blood donation, which helps reduce the accumulation of iron in the blood — the key factor in the disease.”
Taj would encourage everyone to consider giving blood, stating that the benefits far outweigh the time it takes — which can vary depending on donation type — but for Taj takes less than 30 minutes.
“Not to mention, free snacks!” he adds. “And who knows, you might just be the next big raffle winner!”