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Giving the Gift of Blood Donation


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If you're wondering what sort of present to share with someone who already has so much, we have a suggestion for you.

It's a simple gift. It doesn't cost you a cent, but it could save someone's life.

Donating blood has become almost a hobby for Lawrence Tullius. He first donated in 1944. Since then, he has donated 260 pints-- 32 and a half gallons of his blood.

It's a record in California, and probably in the U.S. But Lawrence is not doing it for fame.

Lawrence Tullius/ Record Blood Donor: "I do it because it helps people. It's also a charity I can afford.. ha ha ha.. doesn't cost me any money out of my pocket and it does a lot of good for people."

At Blood Centers of the Pacific, if you donate you can get a card to send a friend or loved one, letting them know you have donated on their behalf.

It's a gift that helps a lot of people.

Lisa Bloch/ Blood Centers of Pacific: "It's pretty amazing with the technology we have today. For every pint of blood that someone donates we are able to seperate it into three components, plateletts, red blood cells and plasma. So essentially everytime you donate blood you are saving three lives."

It's a gift that is particularly needed this time of year. Over the holidays, the number of people donating drops off, while the demand increases. And the early flu season is already making an impact on supplies.

Lawrence says the beauty of donating blood is that it's a gift that doesn't cost you a thing.

Lawrence Tullius: "It doesn't cost a penny, it doesn't cost you but a few minutes of your time. It is a gift that anyone and everyone should give".

Lawrence says he plans to keep on giving as long as he can.

Donations to ARUP blood services, which supplies blood to the University hospitals, Primary Children's, Shriners Hospital for Children, and Huntsman Cancer Institute, are noticeably down from last year.

This is largely due to the flu.

People with the flu can't donate until they're symptom free, and anyone who has had a fever needs to wait three days after the fever subsides to give blood.

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